


Episode 4 : "The Castaway"

by homoeroticsubtextinspace



Series: Karnaca [5]
Category: Destiny (Video Games)
Genre: Board Games, F/F, F/M, Gay, Good family relationship, Multi, Science Fiction, Space Exploration, Space Opera, gay but in space, happy people, post scarcity, solar sailor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-09
Updated: 2020-12-09
Packaged: 2021-03-10 07:40:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 23,938
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27966980
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/homoeroticsubtextinspace/pseuds/homoeroticsubtextinspace
Summary: fourth episode! things are about to change forever!here we get to see something different, and a sleek view of their dynamic under pressureloads of stuff i had to cut but i'm still happy with the result!notes are at the end , every words marked by a "*" are explained in the (rather extensive) notes.Dialogues are encompassed in - words words -Telepathic dialogues (yes, it happens) is encompassed in -"" word word""Dialogues spoken over the ship's communication system (for everyone to hear) are marked this way -"word word word" most of it is Numiri anyway.I am very open (not to say starving) to constructive criticism so DO NOT HESITATE to commentsee the art i do of my characters here: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/karnacacrew , a blog i made exclusively for this story and these characters:) just like for my writing, i'm still trying to figure out my style.specifically on this one I tried to play around with changes in POV
Series: Karnaca [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1909798





	Episode 4 : "The Castaway"

She opened her eyes.   
Right on top of her, a gradient of blue and purple. The whole ceiling of her room was made of a clear bubble, completely transparent. The weather reports were almost never wrong.

She still felt like she had to check.  
On the clear glass numbers appeared: 6:22   
She had been awake since 4:13 . Too much anticipation.  
Too much stress. The good kind. The kind she remembered feeling when she was 9 and her birthday was coming up. She had forced herself to lay down still, eyes closed until at least 7, providing her body with the rest it needed. But 7 was too far away, she couldn’t wait that long.

A plethora of other data was appearing on the glass: atmospheric pressure, radiation level, temperatures , solar winds...  
Everything was nominal.   
It was going to happen today.

She sprung out of her big circular bed like she was mounted on springs. The routine of picking her clothes seemed rather absurd today, since she knew what she would have to wear eventually. Nevertheless she slipped on her red hakama, perfect for lounging at the house until departure.   
A last look at the data , now sprouting from the mirror in her closet, told her that the conditions hadn’t changed. 

She turned around at the door, looking at her room. It was a mess, but not as big of a mess as it could have been . She had done way worse. At least her dad wouldn’t yell at her for leaving her stuff all over the house for several months this time.  
First step on the stairs, whatever was going to happen today she knew she would come home a different person.

Downstairs the lights were off but the sun had arisen full, although the second one was still missing. It would not be up for another hour this time of year.  
She heard a noise coming from behind her. She knew that pace, these steps so well, no need to turn around.

-'Morning daddy!

-hello sweetheart! You slept well? 

-not much but i feel rested enough. It's gonna be today. I'm so excited dad can you believe!!!

Her father smiled at her tenderly.

-want me to make you a freshly pressed juice?

-last one for a while I guess! Yes please!

Her mom appeared at the entrance of her parent’s bedroom, still in pajamas. She yawned intensely before hugging her daughter from behind her chair, then planting a kiss on her forehead.

-you’re up early today love! 

-couldn’t miss my girl’s last earth dweller breakfast!

-oh so it’s today? The conditions are good?

The young girl slipped her mom a small circular tile , the second it reached her hand it lit up and displayed the data she had seen on her window earlier. She studied them for a second before pointing at one line with a concerned look

-how about the gravimetric eddies in the outer magnetosphere of Izar 6? They seem 1.4% above normal.

-Mahmiii! Stop worrying about everything! I’m not even going near this point today!

-sorry , I know you planned this well,I’m just… I’m just worried there is some minute detail somewhere that has been overlooked and you know, you’re the last of my babies, we’ll see how well you fare when your youngest child tries something that hasn’t been attempted for more than 4 centuries! 

She was bracing up to answer when her dad laid a comforting hand on her mom’s shoulder, with this smile he knew how to do, this smile which could only mean one thing : everything is going to be alright.  
Her mom looked like she was melting from the inside, she took his hand and tenderly held it across her cheek, resting her head in it. 

This simple gesture gave her a heart pinch, she was leaving them behind. Not forever, not even for a long time but she realised for the first time what her ordeal truly meant. How far she would be. Far more than when she lived in Mozhdeni for her studies.

She stared at them for a second, taking in the image, the love they radiated , the confidence, the absolute trust. 

It was time to move.

\----

8:04  
The wind was just as strong as the last four times she had been there, she could taste the salt in the air, literally, as some sea spray was entering her mouth.  
She looked at her forearm display, once again she hadn’t accounted for the time zones, it was late in the evening here , but by any chance her sister and her wife were not asleep yet. Maybe she would even have time to greet the twins.

As she knocked on the door of the seaside house partially mounted on pilotis, she noticed that one of the surfboards was missing from the hut next to the house.  
She hadn’t prepared a real conversation, just hoping her big sister would know what to say.   
She hadn’t been here in a year. Of course she had seen her and her family during the different celebrations that brought them together like the day of Arrival festival, but it wasn’t the same as going to their place and spending a day or two with them. The distance was not really an excuse as transmat technology had been available to all on the planet for more than four centuries. Her sister’s house was on the far side of the planet, but she had taken more time brushing her teeth this morning than actually reaching it . 

She recalled her time spent babysitting her nephews fondly, the twins were bright, interesting young girls , full of curiosity . And mischief, as they were the smartest pranksters she had ever met.   
The door opened on a colossal mass of chaotic hair, under which a sleepy face was barely visible. The eyes under the sphere of unbridled hair went from half closed to curious to absolutely overjoyed in less than a second when they recognised who was standing in the entranceway.

-MYAREE!!! 

The two sisters launched themselves into each other's arms in a loving embrace.

-I’m so glad to see you it’s been so long since the last family visit! ANITA! GUESS WHO’S HERE!

-It’s very good to see you too Jannali , I hope I didn't wake you up!

-what ? nooooo , I was kicking Anita’s butt at Kairyl*! 

A voice rose from the living room a few meters down the entrance:

-you wish you were good enough to kick my lovely butt! Sup Mya you wanna join the game?

-I’m afraid I don’t have time , I came to say goodbye actually. Are the twins around?

-nah, Sahn is at a sleepover I’m not exactly sure whe…

Anita’s voice once again came from the other room, louder this time.

-she’s at Devah’s , it’s theater night , she told you that earlier!

-yeah yeah I know I know…

Myaree chuckled a bit seeing the face her sister Jannali was making. She was mouthing “completely forgot” 

-she’s still as much into ancient greek tragedy? 

-are you kidding me? A week ago she went to school fully dressed as Clytemnestra.

-I don’t know who that is …

-neither did we!, but I can assure you now we do! Anyway, so yeah she’s at a friend’s watching or reading super old plays and Pema is out surfing, her beacon is strong so she’s safe, despite the lack of light.

-stop worrying so much it’s Distai for 2 months still, you know we can see pretty well this time of year.

Under her breath , Jannali responded , only as to make herself heard by her sister.  
-”well i’m still worrying anyway”

-so you said you came to say goodb… oh, OH it’s today??? WOW that came fast! I didn't even know you were finished!!

Anita, probably wondering why her sister in law wasn’t coming to her, was joining them in the hall, a glass with what looked like telshenki wine in each hand. She was still wearing her beach attire, Myaree suspected they just came back from surfing themselves. 

-you’ll have time for a glass ?

-love she’s leaving today!

-WHAT? ,holy fuck that’s big news! 

She handed the glass to her wife, holding her own up high, inviting Jannali to do the same

-to the first launch our people witness since the birth of our Planet. To the most brilliant , courageous and absolutely insane young woman I’ve met in my entire life!

-that was dramatic! 

-ain’t that what you married me for?

They both smiled and took a sip from their glasses. Myaree looked at them as she had done her parents, engraving this vision into her mind. She was sad she wouldn’t get to say goodbye to the twins but that was on her for (once again) not warning anyone of her plans in advance.

-at what time do you launch exactly?

-the best window is between 10 and 12 Mozhdeni time

\- mmh that’s in less than 3 hours, hun do you think the girls would want to be there? 

-I know I do! Give us a minute and we’ll be ready .

-I still have to go say to say goodbye to Kiki and Nadi , you have time. By the way I set up a shielded observation bay a few kilometers away from the site, mahmi and dad have the coordinates, pass by home I’m sure they’ll be happy to see you!

-I’ll page the girls, see if they want to see you off, I can’t make any promises though, you know how they are.

Myaree nodded while she was putting her shoes back on .

-once again I’m so sorry for the late night call, but you understand how conditions shift, I never have much foresight in the matter.

Her sister smiled at her, meaning something like “we also know you are absolutely the worst at understanding a schedule but it’s part of who you are so we love it”

She disappeared in a soft bolt of light the second she walked out the door.

Inside the house the two women were hurrying to get their stuff in order before leaving.  
Anita was writing a note for her daughters on the notification board in the kitchen. 

\-----

8:21 

Before her stood the enormous mass of painted metal she had spent hours looking at when she was a student . The second sun was slowly rising after the first one, illuminating the structure with pastel oranges and pinks. It was as beautiful as ever. As magnificent.

She kept on looking for another minute. Here laid her inspiration, her motivation, what brought her to this point .   
A few hundred meters to the left was the statue , where 45,120 names had been engraved almost a millenia ago, the bronze was protected by a low density static field, dust and water were unable to touch it, so the statue was still in pristine conditions. Even after 835 years.

The legendary captain was looking magnificent with colours brought on by the early morning, her posture was so gentle yet so strong. Myaree recalled how the first time she had seen it, on a school trip to the oldest city on the planet. Subjugated by the aura of the woman depicted there, the strength of her eyes, the flow of the fabric of her hijab, immortalised in the shiny metal . She had been captivated instantly .

Now she was old enough to understand she had had a MASSIVE crush on the captain during most of her late childhood and adolescence . Her achievements were legendary, the foundation on which this world was built, even before that, she had been the first woman to set foot on the planet Mercury back in Sol . Her contributions to the Amrita project were many, she had been the one to suggest outfitting the colony ships with failsafe AI’s to compensate for a human crew. 

More importantly it was her drive that had captivated Myaree. Captain Mozhdeh Khodzhayev had been a force of nature, one of these people with the will to move mountains, or civilisations. Her dream , for a peaceful expansion of the best we had to offer in the stars, was, according to Besenohan society , achieved. Her influence extended beyond the centuries of her own natural life, even this city was named after her , Mozhdeni . The months were named in farsi, her native language, the besenohan culture was filled with these types of small hommages.

836 years of peace and prosperity. The achievement was staggering in itself. A society built on respect, of the land and of each other. Besehno was a paradise.

And she wanted to leave it.

One last look at Mozhdeh’s radiant face, her bronze eyes still turned toward the future, and she felt like her choice was the right one.  
She turned around to climb up the stairs to the university.

She hadn’t been here in two years , not since she had graduated from her engineering program, the youngest of all the students who had ever entered. She took no pride in it, in her work , sure, but she knew her skills were the results of the love she had received, of the work she had put in them, of the skills of her own teachers, of everyone who was working to better themselves and others.   
This was what she was proud of. Proud of the besenohan ideology, proud of knowing the culture she was from was built on improving and not on stagnating in a faulty status quo.

Instinctively she was playing with her earrings , two small orbs of obsidian glass, from Earth, engraved microscopically with the names of all of her ancestors spanning more than 1500 years. The names had to be revealed by shining a focused light on the earring, projecting an intricate spherical family tree. 

A traditional gift from her mother, who was bearing similar ornaments, as were all of her siblings. Her mother was a descendant of one of the Bundjalung people who originally embarked on the colony ship. So was she, she had been taught the way of her people, and even if they were far away from Earth, the cradle, the aboriginal community on Besehno had kept strong ties with their traditions. She was rather proud of that too. 

Students were rushing around her, late for classes probably, one was still finishing a tasty croissant , stuffing his mouth while running up the stairs. Myaree smiled, this poor student’s behaviour reminded her of her own, unable to be on time for anything, almost ever. 

To her, time was divided into three branches, the past, the now, and it has yet to happen so it is never really now until it is too late and NOW i’m late. 

She was brought out of her daydreaming by a familiar voice.

-Miss Djahnanah! Are you coming back to dazzle us in yet another field ?

She turned around to see her old bioengineering teacher, a seemingly frail old woman , well over 190 years old, one of the heads of the planet’s scientific council, also one of her favourite teachers from her time at the Mozhdeni academy for the art of science.

-Doctor Phan! 

She ran up to the little woman, hugging her warmly.

-It’s good to see you too young girl! How is your project coming along, I heard you successfully tested that exosuit of yours on Izar 5! How did it go?

-It went well, I adjusted the rate of compression of the recrystalizer with your equation, it worked well in a Nitrogen rich atmosphere, OH I’m launching today by the way, that’s why I came, to say goodbye to my brother!

-you’re already ready to launch? Extremely impressive! I guess now that you don’t have your teachers holding you back you’re able to work faster! 

She exploded into laughter at her own joke, which frightened some of the young students avoiding them in the entrance hall. All the heads were turned towards them for a second, before they were reminded that they were actually late and had no time to watch why their bioengineering teacher, renowned for her seriousness was laughing in the hall of the university.

-ha ha ha..   
She wiped tears off her wrinkled face

-anyway, at what time do you launch? Did you set an observation point ?

-yes, I’m launching between 10 and 11, probably closer to ten as the upper layer of the atmosphere will be colder as the day goes by, requiring more thrust to navigate.

-I see you’ve taken notes from your last experiment! Good, I’ll check my schedule with my assistants , see if I can make it to see you off, it would be interesting to watch.

-it would be my honor doctor! 

-you’re not my student anymore , you can call me Hào!

-only if you call me Myaree!

-haha let’s agree to that then! Maybe I’ll see you on the pad, if not, best of luck on your adventure Myaree, know that the other teachers and I are extremely proud of you.

While the old woman was walking away from her, at remarkable speed for her age, Myaree felt her nose was suddenly stuffy and her vision blurry. She wiped a tear from her face, feeling immense gratitude for her teacher’s words. She was supported on all sides by her family and friends (the few she had) but to hear her teacher, who during her years at the academy had been the hardest on her, tell her how she was making THEM proud ,was like a liberation.

As long as she could remember, her dream had been different from her people. When she was three years old, during the long nights, “Metsu” as they called it on Besehno, the two months of year when both suns were aligned in the sky, making hot short days and long, extremely starry nights, she had asked her mom to make the ceiling of her room disappear so she could see the little lights in the sky. Her mom had joyfully obliged, transforming the ceiling into a self cleaning glass bubble.  
From that point, her life had been a long pursuit of this dream. Reach these lights, reach the stars, see what lies beyond.

The specificities of the planets made these two months the only moment of the year where the milky way was visible to the naked eye. The two suns, orbiting each other in a never ending embrace, provided Besehno with a lot more light than Earth. It had been a major trouble at the beginning of the colonisation effort,remedied by advanced genetic engineering , altering the human genome to better handle the extra radiation. 

The mutation had been disseminated along the gene pool over the next eight centuries, rendering life on the planet free of medical consequences, except for the few unlucky ones resistant to the genes.   
She was, as it turned out, resistant to the gene, but rather than go through extensive genetic therapy she chose a more ...personal approach, she had designed a flock of Nanomachines, injected in the middle layer of her skin, to synthesise the substance necessary for treatment and directly administrate it into her bloodstream, earning her the praises of her teachers for such a creative solution. She also had the nanites programmed to change colour according to a specific dynamic design, effectively creating a form of moving tattoo.

After she had discovered at school , when she was four, that her people were not native to this planet, her dream went from fantasy to a solid encroachment in her mind. Space travel was not only possible, but had been achieved already, she was gonna do it too. She would learn how to forge her wings , despite the besenohan long standing point of view that since their system is quite isolated, as there are no other stars in a 150 light year radius, space travel is just not worth it. 

The years had gone by and her mind had grown into the mind of an engineer, her first magnetic sailor took to the air a day after her 9th birthday, by her 12th, she had built an actual plane , by age 14, she was enrolled at the prestigious engineering program of the M.A.S academy, at a week over 17 she had graduated top of her class in both nano and macroengineering.  
Her teachers had been hard on her because they wanted to see her succeed, while none of them shared her dream, they recognised her drive as a force to be reckoned with and after a rough first trimester, they had given up on trying to make her reconsider.

Now to hear that they were proud, that was something else entirely.

Her brother’s office was on the fifth floor , next to the library, where he had been teaching early Earth history since she was 10 .  
A more passionate teacher you could not find, his passion for bronze age cultures was without equal.   
As was his frustration with not being able to see any of the artifacts or settlements for himself.

He had been the first supporter of her dream, telling her stories of the first space explorers of Earth, even with their dangerous primitive technologies, how they had achieved, even for a short time an ideal of peace and cooperation among the people of Earth, that would lead decades, centuries later to the movance that would birth the Amrita project*.

His door was opened, and as his habit he was not sitting at his desk but slouched in a comfortable sofa on the side , technically made for students, a pile of books sitting next to him.   
On the back of the sofa was Koban, his nagui, a somewhat bird-like creature endemic to the planet, and the only creature there who domesticated themselves in a few generations by being extremely responsive to affection and neck scritches. Koban was almost 12 years old, he wasn’t moving much anymore, preferring sleeping to any other activities. The students often invented any kind of excuses to go see Professor Djahnanah in his office, just to pet the little creature. The nagui was very fond of all this attention.

-hi Kiki! 

Her brother was so plunged into his book he hadn’t noticed someone had entered. He almost bonked his head on the heavy volume , startled.

-what? Who? Oh hello Myaree how are you today! Haven’t seen you in a while! How are mahmi and dad doing?

He carefully put down the heavy book, after marking the page he was at with a piece of loose paper, then proceeded to get his little sister in a big warm embrace, from which she tried to escape quickly.

-uugh I can’t breathe! - She said playfully.

-it’s today isn’t it? You’re leaving today?

-congrats on being the only one who guessed! Yeah I’m ready, I feel ready, and from a hardware perspective I could have launched three weeks ago already.

-I knew this would come soon, when you told me what kind of atmospheric conditions you were looking for I put up an alert on my wristband, to monitor them. I just hoped you wouldn’t leave without saying goodbye! When exactly is the launch?

-two hours from now. I only have time for a quick shower, and then it’s pre flight checks. After I go see Nabi too of course!

-ah you won’t reach him. He's in the exclusion zone on a camping trip with his camp, they left three days ago , I think they are there for at least a week if not more.

-ugh I guess that’s on me for not warning in advance!

-you’ll be back soon I’m sure, maybe he’ll join Umbarra on Izar 5 when you’ll reach their orbit !

-yeah maybe you’re right..  
She was visibly disappointed , but she knew it was out of her own doing. Nabi, her closest brother, only of two years her eldest, was part of a hunter camp, they often did survival camps out in the wild, and this time they had chosen the exclusion zone, the island at the center of the archipelago, the remnant of a colossal asteroid impact more than 8000km wide, and at its center a small island, made of high concentrations of platinum, iron and nickel, the core of the ancient asteroid, now stabilized and exposed to the atmosphere. Transmat and comms were impossible on the island due to a massive deregulation of the magnetic field in this zone. 

She would have to wait, report the launch....

No.

Conditions this good could take months, maybe even another year to arise again, she had to launch today, Nabi would join her other brother Umbarra on the planet Izar 5 the goal of her journey .

When she first proposed her project to the teachers at the academy they asked her why make a perilous journey in space when you can transmat to the other planet instantly and safely?   
She had to explain there was no challenge to this kind of travel, even Izar 5 , originally a lifeless rock with a poisonous atmosphere, was rapidly being transformed into a livable garden of eden by the efforts of , among others, her brother, he was chief exomycologist on the project.  
His duty was to seed a fungal basis onto which vegetal life could encroach and grow, forming a symbiotic relationship.   
The terraforming of Izar 5 was considered the challenge of the decade, it had started only a few years prior and was well underway, and with the enhanced transmat capabilities of besenohans, reaching it would be just as easy as going out for a stroll.

She wanted more. More than what this system had to offer. Of course she understood why the besenohans were so attached to the land, to this system. It was a benediction, brought down upon the colony ship by sheer luck, as it was not the intended target at all.   
But she couldn’t live knowing there was more out there and she wouldn’t get to see it.

She suspected most of the people she had talked to about her project of thinking it was a fun challenge a 19 year old girl was setting upon herself, to test her limits and then come back down with the rest of them, they were dead wrong.  
This was a test run, her goal was to build a warp ship. Her goal was to transcend this bubble of empty space their star system was in. to reach out beyond, see what there was to see, meet who was there, maybe see the ruins of Sol for herself…

Her brother was still hugging her, she felt almost sad to go, but she had to, yes, she was destined to bridge the gap, she felt it in her deepest bones!

She broke off from him, turned around to pet Koban (who was still sleeping) and waved to her brother.

-I set up a point where you can watch the launch if you want, mahmi and dad will be there, I think Jannila and Anita too, maybe with one of the twins I’m not sure, see you there!

She left the office in a hurry , not wanting to cry again. It didn’t work as it was through tears that she activated her last site to site transmat.

\-----

9:02 

The ship was standing still , moored to a temporary spike through the sandy beach. Enormous, even from the distance, the sails were all neatly packed away. The wooden hull was gently creaking in the slow backwash. She knew it had been there for 3 days, and had planned to stay for 3 more before going back on it’s never ending voyage.

The ship itself, even silent and immobile like this, was inspiring some kind of profound peace in Myaree, an ocean of tranquility was descending upon her, balancing out the stress of seeing her again.  
Sure they had kept contact after the breakup, and it was a mutual breakup, but things were still complicated between them. You never stop thinking those you love are special, especially the first love, the exacerbated one , the one where you discover , where you experiment.

They had been apart for almost a year now. She was the last person on her list, almost as if she wanted to have the excuse not to see her before departure, spare herself the pain of seeing her ex girlfriend happy without her.   
But her schedule had been altered by the absence of her other brother, now she had no excuses left.  
After another minute of contemplation she walked toward the group of people dancing on the shore at the light of a fire.

Locating her was easy, it always had been, you can’t miss a fiery mass of red hair among hundreds, and even if she did, her presence always had this… aura? Energy? she would recognise blindfolded. 

They had seen her appear in her familiar white transmat effect , but as she at first had stood still , not moving toward them they had disinterested themselves from this strange lonely figure in the nightlight. Now as she was walking toward them they were inviting her to dance, asking her if she wanted a drink. She politely declined, saying she was here to see someone in particular.

The nomads did not insist, maybe they knew who she was, maybe “she “had told them about her, about the life she had left behind to join one of the numerous nomad clans roaming the seas and oceans of Besehno. Joining was possible for everyone, the only conditions were observance of the clan’s rituals and reasonable obedience to the ship’s captain, themselves guided by the council of elders. All the captains reunited once every three years on a deserted island on the far side of the planet. At their request transmat was forbidden on the island, as to make the journey to prove your worth as part of the crew. 

Nomadic life had been a dream of her girlfriend since she was tall enough to see the ships from the shore.  
Donnaçi San Requerdo , born and raised in the coastal village of Tbetesti , when she was young she used to spend days playing in the harbor , meeting the different nomad ships passing through. She had grown to love these eccentric fellows, full of love and stories.   
Then she had discovered engineering, developed a real talent for it, landing herself a spot at Mozhdeni’s academy, in the same class as Myaree.   
The two girls had clicked almost immediately, grouping up everytime for school projects, spending afternoons under the monument in the central square, despite the year that separated them, they had felt kinship with one another like never before. Myaree as someone she could share what she could not with her family , and Donnaçi as an only child,finally had someone she could finally feel close to.   
They both had a singular drive, and that drive is what eventually had driven them apart.   
The three years they had been together had been good for both of them, both had seen themselves grow into a fine young adult, mentally growing into what they were meant to be. 

But Donnaçi had a shadow, a dark spot she could not remove from her mind. A day after her 19th birthday she had announced , first to Myaree, her intention to join the nomads, to untether herself from her previous life, to grow anew.

The worst of it was that Myaree understood her decision completely, it didn’t come as a shock, it was the last piece falling into place, the piece that would make her complete. Even if it meant leaving her behind as well. She had cried a lot, but she agreed, it WAS the best outcome possible for both of them.   
Physical separation was not a thing anymore, hadn’t been for centuries, not since personal transmat technologie had been invented, she even had given her a translocator, to allow her to visit when she wanted. She only did it twice in the past year, only brief visits, the wound was still too fresh for her. She had told her about her plans, not in detail as she didn’t want to worry her needlessly.   
Losing her best friend and her love in one single swoop was hard to digest at 19 (not that it becomes easier with age)

Donnaçi on the other hand was more radiant than ever, she had found her calling, clearly, she was happy here, looked happy, every fiber of her being was glowing. 

It was not much different here tonight, she was dancing with two little boys, probably no older than 6, they were laughing at the sound of the instruments some of the nomads were playing.   
They looked so free, she looked so free, her marvelous hair cascading chaotically on her shoulders.  
Her hands flying like animated of their own will, her dress flowing around in the sand, the reflection of the pale blue leaves against these Delightful freckles scattered across her face, her neck, her shoulders. She loved those freckles, would have given a lot to see them again, gently press her lips against them …

-Mya! 

She wanted to run toward her and bury her head in her neck , breath in the smell of salt and sweat off her skin, but she didn’t . 

Instead she waived with a faint smile, letting her come to her.

-you’re leaving aren’t you? I can see it in your eyes.

Once again she was reminded that this woman in front of her was still able to read her like nobody ever could. 

-yes… I… you…

The words were stuck in her throat, it ached, she was feeling her nose getting stuffed again. Why was she feeling such emptiness? She was only leaving the planet for 6 weeks, why did it feel like saying farewell? 

-I know,I... thank you .

Her pale grey eyes were fixated on hers , burning a whole through her whole being. Instinctively Myaree grabbed her hands , both of them, bringing them close to her chest, to her heart. She didn’t resist, maybe she even initiated it, it was unclear, the moment was intense.

-you’re not gonna be here when I come back are you? 

A voice full of tenderness answered her, as those eyes were still her whole world.

-I don’t think you’re coming back… and I think you know it as well.

She was right, for the past few months leading up to the launch she had felt like her life was outside of her control. Her drive, her dream had overtaken her completely, she wasn’t sure she was the one calling the shots anymore. It felt as if she knew what she had to do, and that was leaving. The urge was getting stronger by the day. This deep feeling that she did not belong here, now, that she had to go.

-I felt it too, you’re not meant for us. Just as I wasn’t meant for you . I can't explain it …

-Dona I… are you happy here? I mean i see it, I see your glow, I see how well you look, I know you, but I want to hear it from you. I want to KNOW I'm not leaving you behind…

-Mya you left us all behind the second you laid eyes on the milky way. Now go, follow your dream, you’ll always have a place here, with me, although I know you will never take it.

She had pulled the hands from Myaree’s chest to her own heart. Myaree wanted to take them back, to run away , instead she hoisted herself closer to Donnaçi , for a heartfelt embrace. Her scent was filling her being, blocking the flow of tears, blocking the flow of guilt and regret. For a second, there was nothing else in the world but the thin brown skin on this freckled neck, drowned in fiery red hair.   
Was it her own hearth she was feeling or Donnaçi’s ? No matters, either she was letting go or she renounced who she was. She would not give up. Not so close.

-Im sure we’ll meet again.

They had both said the same farewell, at the same time.  
Myaree was already turning around, not noticing that Donnaçi was crying too. Through her tears she barely noticed one of the nomads standing still just outside the zone touched by the firelight. A woman, tall, with a thick mass of curly hair, she was staring at her intensely, her eyes shining with reflections of the flames, and the instrument she was holding looked more like a staff than a musical instrument.   
Her grieving mind casted it aside as quickly as she hastily pressed her wrist, activating her transmat. 

Behind her, the group of nomads gathered around a crying young woman with red hair, kneeling down in the sand. Nobody notices the one with the staff as she disappears into shadows, without a sound, like she had never been there at all.

\-----

9:39

She was staring at the drain in the shower, the water was running down her head and back, her hair were freed again, they felt quite long now when she let them loose.   
She was sitting in the shower, her face buried in her knees. This was her first panic attack in two years. This goodbye, maybe a last goodbye, was weighing heavily on her, she hadn’t anticipated such an impact. It hadn’t changed her resolve, on the contrary, but she felt the need to clean any remnant of her off her skin, before starting over.

As she was exiting the shower, the six metallic arms of the hair stilist were already drying them before braiding them again to her specifications. When she was younger her mom used to braid them, or her sister, but since she had adopted this specific haircut, it would have taken a human too long to do it by hand. Not to mention her sister was living several thousand kilometers away and her mom had stopped doing it when she went to university.

She missed it.

She looked at herself in the mirror. Her eyes were very red, she had cried a lot today. No matter, her endeavour was to be taken alone, she had no one to impress, and no one would be judging her. Emotions were a normal part of life, nobody would contest her that, and even so besenohans usually had a healthy approach to these kinds of feelings.  
Her hairdo was almost finished, the four buns were formed, and the braids already holding them in place.  
Another look in the mirror indicated that she really had chosen the red dye for her hair well, the gradient from her normal black to this crimson edge was stunning, she was proud of it.

Time to put on her spacesuit, the one she had crafted herself , loosely following the designs of eons past . As usual she had brought the design into the future by improving vastly on it, from the materials used to the size of certains elements.  
It was a pressure suit, the seal was to be generated only once she had put on the helmet as well, a thing she would only do inside the craft. Lucky for her the pressure was only designed to be 1 atmosphere, contrary to the old spacesuits, the mechanical support was produced by a mesh of carbon wire along the different lines of the body, offering maximum flexibility for minimum bulkiness.  
It looked like a worker’s uniform, not really a spacesuit, but that was what she wanted. She had built her spaceship on her own, she was proud to be an engineer , her suit reflected that.

The suit was heated or cooled depending on the outside environment. Right now it was cooled as the outside temperature was around 31 degrees. Slipping into the control undersuit was not as nice, the material, although extremely valuable as it was made to monitor all of her vitals , was annoying to put on, she would have to alter the design for an easier changing in the future, a mental note she made to herself.  
Something was missing, she looked at the projected check-list on the wall. The knife! She had forgotten the knife! She ran back to the closet, opening the second metallic suitcase where she had taken her suit’s gloves out, to find the blue knife.  
It was a gift from her father, he had taught all of his kids that when you’re in an unknown environment, a knife is the most versatile tool you can have. Life had shown her that this lesson was perhaps the most important survival advice he had ever given her, along with “seek allies” 

She looked at the knife. The handle was woven in meteoritic platinum wire, on Earth it would probably have cost millions , but here on Besehno, where money had been abandoned more than 7 centuries ago, it was more a gift of emotional value. The blade was a vibrant blue, down to the edge, due to the chemical treatment of the ceramic alloy used for construction.   
The blade was a bit longer than what she would have gone for ,she suspected her father to think she would probably keep growing a few centimeters more.  
Myaree slid the knife into the scabbard integrated to her left boot, it made a gentle hissing noise before clicking and locking into place, held by a magnetic lock.

Once in the suit she exited the bathroom, to find the house, her parents house, completely quiet. Her parents, along with her sister and the rest of her family (or at least most of them) were probably already on the observation bay she had set up overlooking the launch pad, heavily shielded by several cascading forcefields and a 3mm thick bubble of hydroaluminium carbonate, the same transparent material she had made the windows from her ship in.

She tilted her head to look at the display on her forearm. 9:53, it was time to go. Without even a last look, she activated the transmat, vanishing from the room in a bolt of white light.

She reappeared directly next to the launch pad. The air was still, not a knot of wind .   
The hot air climbing from the rocky ground , heated by the two unforgiving suns, were clashing against the supercooled fuel tanks of the rocket.   
Above the massive white tank was the module, still partially hidden by the heat shield.

The carrier rocket had no name, it was just a fuel tank after all, she had modified the fuel requirement for the engines, as what the ancient humans used was awfully inefficient from her perspective.  
The craft however was named Wuriupranili, in honour of the torchbearing sun goddess her people sang about. Wuriupranili II to be exact since the first one was the one she had built to operate an autonomous voyage following the same route she was taking now, it had been catastrophically damaged during that journey, tripling the time of the trip. The second was a completely new build, incorporating the lessons she had learned from the first one. (the Mozdehni space and air museum had asked her if they could display it in one of their exhibitions, she was thrilled, as she had spent so much time in this museum looking at the different ship reproductions herself.)

From her spot on the ground it looked so far away , and weirdly difformed by perspective.

The module itself was only about 10 meters long, it looked so small right now. She had spent the last few years working on it, she knew what it looked like once deployed , the sails reaching out for several kilometers.

The paint she had put on most of the rocket was partially obscured by the ice and vapor produced by the liquid nitrogen cooling system. This was disappointing, she had spent at least 3 full days painting that pattern. It still looked good but the homage she wanted it to be was diminished by the ice she thought.  
The pattern was a flowing motif of dots and lines, typical of the pictural art style of her ancestors, and just as colourful, ranging from deep blues to vibrant ochres. Her mom, Naman Djahnanah ,had cried the first time she had seen it. Her daughter had never been much involved in her heritage, she had accepted her culture, sure, but she had never really shown interest in learning what it meant to be Bundjalung. Naman on the other hand was a known figure among the cultural community, her work on genealogy and oral history alone were revered as great achievements among her people. So when she had discovered the fresco painted on the Rocket, her eyes had filled with tears, she recognised the influence of the paintings she had done in her youth, of the paintings her people had done for millennials, the style, the colours, it was a breathtaking hommage to this culture she had tried so hard to share with her youngest daughter, and a sign she had succeeded .

Myaree recalled the three diagnostics drones constantly flying around the structure, examining each detail down to the micron, making them hover next to her , synching their data to her holographic wrist display.

-mmh the coolant in engine 4 is .003 degrees above its normal temperature…

She summoned the control panels of the whole structure from her wrist, displaying them in the air around her . The problem was swiftly corrected, a coolant fluid starvation due to an abnormal compression rate .

All the little rings on her floating screens were now green again, it was time for a last goodbye. She adjusted her personal transmat to take her to the observation bay, while directly transporting her helmet in the ship. She wouldn't need it until then.

A soft press on the holographic button and she was appearing among her friends and family, not far from the launch pad.

The space behind the glass was filled with people, she was startled for a second, not expecting that many people.  
When she appeared in her familiar flash of light , the room lit up in exclamations of joy and friendship. It was rather overwhelming for Myaree after what she had been through this morning.

She spotted her parents in a corner, discussing with their daughter in law Anita, in another spot were three friends she had made in university, she was glad to see them, unsure they would come. And to her big surprise, most of her teachers were there.  
She first ran toward her friends, she hadn’t seen them in quite a while she was now realizing, the last few months she had been pretty busy with the last details, such and such last part to polish, a relay to replace , .0005 millimeters of misalignment on one of the converters….

-I’m so glad you came! 

-Hey i told you I’d be here when you manage to lift your hunk of junk off the ground! 

-We weren’t gonna miss this don’t worry!

-I thought you had an exam today Teb?

-look around you, most of the teachers in the engineering track are here!

Myaree was really glad they had come. She spoke to them for five good minutes before kissing them goodbye, walking backward to go talk to her old teachers

Suddenly from behind her a cold hand softly tapped her shoulder, she jumped on the spot, turning quickly to see who the hand belonged to.  
Before her was a Frame*.  
Myaree could not believe her eyes, of the original 90 frames brought with the original colony ship, only 6 were still functional. After the development of atomic level matter reprocessing 15 years after the arrival , the frames were “set free” of tasks and incorporated into society as sentient beings with the same rights and liberties as humans. Most of them had chosen to explore the rest of the system, to her knowledge 2 were on other planets in the system, she knew one was among the council of elders of the nomads, but the others were living their lives among the population of Besehno .  
She had only seen one before on arrival week three years ago, when she was drinking with her friends under the shadow of the memorial in Mozhdeni.  
She hadn’t found the courage to go talk to them then.

The frame before her today was F16, everybody called him “FIX”. It was a real honour he had done her to come to her launch. The frame was old, battered, so many parts had been replaced, but he was still wearing his mission patch, engraved proudly on his left shoulder. It had been sanded by the years, but the logo was still recognisable.

-Young Myaree, It is my great pleasure to finally meet you, I’ve heard a lot about you from my friends at Mozhdeni’s academy! What you do today is a testament to the undying will of humanity to explore the unknown, this same drive that brought us here. You are a worthy heir to those I shared the sea of stars with, I wish you many wonders to see on your voyages, who I think will be many.

Myaree was speechless, her eyes were tearing up again, her nose was filling up faster than she could move or talk, she could feel her stomach liquefy under her, she was a mess, how could she be worthy of anything? She hadn’t even launched yet, her achievements were non- existent, and here was this living legend, praising her and telling her she was the Heir to Captain Mozhdeh and her likes? This was too much to handle, she was gonna melt into a puddle and cry all the water content of her body , it was certain.  
Until strong arms embraced her from behind, an embrace she immediately recognised.

-My daughter is immensely grateful for your presence and kind words to her, right now it might be a bit too much emotion but rest assured that what you said to her touched her deeply and she is honoured by your presence! As are we!

Once again her mom was exactly where she needed her,at the second she faltered she had appeared, carrying her out of her trouble. She really was her truest ally and hero…

-yes, I .. Really honoured! I never thought…! Didn’t think you would come for such a minor thing!...

-don’t sell yourself short young girl, you are the first person to travel in space in 453 years 6 months and 25 days, this is not a little thing. Humanity on Besehno turned away from the stars, and I see why they did, but you didn’t. You kept on believing… Do you think my late crewmates could have built an entire spaceship on their own, before their twentieth birthday? Of course not! What you do here today is making history, for a child of Besehno to lift off the ground to walk the stars once more, It fills me with a joy I had forgotten!

Myaree had no words to add, they all felt empty, she didn’t even know what she could have said, it all felt inconsequential. Instead she acted on an impulse , and suddenly grabbed the Frame, hugging him with force.  
The teachers in the room looked puzzled, they knew their former student enough to know this could happen but they hadn’t warned FIX at all. However the frame returned the hug warmly.

Talking to her old teachers took longer than she had anticipated, she wanted to take the time to properly say goodbye , and thank you, to her family, but some wanted to congratulate her on her endeavor , some wanted to brag to their peers about how they were the ones who had awakened the dream in their young pupil,( they were mistaken about that by the way, she had had it way before meeting any them) , some were really anxious about what she had planned, some wanted to see the technical data of the surveillance drones , “just to double check” .   
They were mostly proud, happy for her, and at least 20 % terrified. No one in their right mind would strap their asses to a pile of explosives just for fun , they didn’t really understand what she was trying to do. She didn’t blame them for that, it was against almost a milenia of culture printed into them.  
When she finally got free of them a look at her wrist indicated it was almost 11 , she had to go.

She walked toward her parents, who were now talking to their neighbors, when they saw their daughter coming toward them they cut the conversation short, saying they had to tell their daughter off.  
Her mom gently pressed twice on her earring, to Myaree’s surprise it made her obsidian earring vibrate softly. A look around indicated her that all the “family” earrings had vibrated because her brother and her sister were also coming toward their mom. A smart and discreet way to communicate , she thought.

-are all our family’s earrings linked? She asked her mom with a smile

-yes, I linked them all through subspace when you brother went to work on Izar 5. This way you’ll know when I think of you.

Her mother’s smile was so radiant, so reassuring, how was she even this calm?

A small shape grabbed her hand and pressed themselves against her leg. She looked down to see her niece Pema, still in her surfing swimsuit, completely drenched. Clearly her moms had grabbed her fresh from the waves on their way to the launch site.  
The little girl was really gripping her legs with her small arms.   
Not so small anymore, she had grown a lot since they had last seen each other.

-Wow Pema you’ll soon be taller than me! How much have you taken up lately?

-4 centimeters! Now I'm taller than Sahn!

She ruffled the short hair on the head of the 7 year old girl, she was happy she at least got to see one of the twins before leaving.  
Her sister appeared from behind her wife with a bottle of champagne and several glasses

-They switch almost every month this year! If only i had married a cloth designer this wouldn’t be a problem!

Anita nudged Jannali gently , they were always lovingly taunting each other with these bouts. It was cute. 16 years of life together had done nothing to quell their quirky personality and rituals.

While pouring glasses Janali was having her hair braided by her wife, their love was had always been a pillar for Myaree, her sister was much older than her , almost ten years older, they hadn’t really been raised together, but she had spent a lot of time hanging out with her sister and Anita when she was still a little girl, and the love they had for each other was the model which she had used to envision what a healthy loving relationship was.  
Her father raised his glass , softly smiling to his daughter .

-To you My daughter, may this great adventure you embark on be the first of hundreds!

-to my sister, who had the strength to push her dreams into this reality!

-to the woman I saw grew into someone I am not shy to call my own sister too, you show us all that your light is one to be watched rising above all others!

-to my daughter, who from the moment she saw the stars in the night sky, has done nothing but make us proud in her quest to reach them!

-to my baby sister, who left us all behind years ago, and now is literally leaving us down here to chase the dream of a lifetime, I’m so proud of you!

They laughed at her brother’s joke, she could feel tears coming back to her eyes, she raised her own glass , emotion was like a knot in her throat, but this time she knew what to say.

-to my family, who showed me what it is to be happy, to reach for something greater than oneself, and who supported me through the many, many hours of infodumping and mood swings I put them through, without ever telling me it was impossible or pointless. I love you all more than you will ever know, and I want you to know that I will spread the love you taught me through the voids and the stars!

-oh we don’t doubt it!

-HERE HERE!

The whole room had lit up, and Myaree just realised that they ALL had glasses of champagne raised in her honour, they were all smiling , all happy to be here apparently.

The first to down her glass was Pema, a glass of fruit juice obviously. They all followed quickly.

\---  
11:05  
Myaree was strapping herself up to her seat, the taste of champagne, bitter and sweet at the same time, still lingering in her mouth. Her helmet was foggy, it was hard to see correctly, perhaps she had forgotten to activate the air and humidity recycling process in the suit.  
But no, the system was on, functioning well into expected parameters. 

It took her a second to understand it was tears, once again, rushing down her face. She hadn’t felt it because of the low pressure in the suit .  
She checked again all the indicators. All in the green, the pressure in the higher layer of the atmosphere was even better than at 10 , turns out waiting an hour more would mean fewer turbulences as she exited the planet.  
Suddenly a blue dot, intermittent, appeared on her monitors, she clicked on it with her left hand, the countdown was started, only 13 seconds left, it would be very annoying to abort now.

The dot indicated another person had joined the observation bay.  
She checked the cam feed from her drones, which she had left there as to not be damaged by the blast.

Donnaçi was standing at the extreme edge of the observation bay, in the same white and blue dress she had earlier, her hair were catching the suns , her head looked like it had a fiery aura around it. She was as stunning as ever.

Her presence, which she had first dreaded, then wished would not happen, actually gave her a strong boost of reassurance. She needed that. She was lying to herself when she had thought it was better if she wasn’t there.   
Her presence was the last piece falling into place, she could leave with a focused mind now, all was as it should.

7  
6 -start of ignition sequence-  
5  
4 - heat exchanger open, pressure nominal-  
3 -auxiliary pump startup-  
2 -main engine ignition-  
1 -secondary engine ignition -

The computerised voice announcing her the countdown was also broadcasting to the observation bay , just as was her mic. 

The vibration intensified , from manageable to highly uncomfortable. She felt like she had just enough air in her lungs for one last shout: 

“POYEKHALI!”

\- LIFTOFF-

....

\---------------------------

The ghost had been going on about his speech more passionately than usual,it was impressive .   
Then , before Artemis had had time to really grasp what he was saying, it was over.  
“Damnit I gotta focus more !”

Several people and Blacksmith were cheering on Oganok, including Akai.   
Pretty normal from Artemis's point of view, the bond between a ghost and a guardian was strong, emotional, they supported each other in moments of hardship just as much as in moments of glory and joy. She glanced at her own guardian, her companion, her friend Rosetta. She was applauding the ghost softly. 

Behind Rosetta was the sensor terminal, which was flashing with a bright orange symbol.  
Nobody had seen it , nobody had it in their field of view. 

“Gotta warn them, this could be important”

She flew toward the console, scanning it hastily.  
She was right, the exclamation point flashing on the screen was important, only she could not predict how important just yet.

-not to spoil the moment here but we are receiving a distress call coming from this system.

The room fell dead silent until Akai broke it, asking:

-What?

Artemis hovered in circles over the console, ghost often did that to point out something to their guardians, the two other guardians in the room immediately recognised the gesture.

On the console was written in bright orange letters over a big exclamation point

“AUDIO DISTRESS BEACON”

Rosetta hurried to her ghost and violently pushed right in the middle of the exclamation point.  
Immediately a voice erupted, cracking up with interferences:

\- “ MAYDAY ,MAYDAY, this is the Wuriupranili II, requesting immediate assistance,I repeat, immediate assistance! MAYDAY”

The crowd was restless, all running toward various data terminals all over the bridge.  
Akai had sat at her post immediately, she was already prepping the engines.

-where's the signal coming from? Is this an automated beacon?? 

-everyone to your stations! Numiri, check the archives for the ship's name!

-done, i only have two ships with this name, one a sailship from the early 22nd century and one from a jumpship class right before the collapse.

-that's inconsistent, we have to assume it's not a colony ship then. What do you have on this system?

-very isolated, we're in a gravitational desert, only a binary star system in a 150 light year bubble, this is uncommon. I read 8 planets, no , nine, one has a non planar orbit. Loads of small moons. At least 3 planets in the golden zone .

-captain I'm getting MASSIVE energy readings from the seventh planet.

-shields up. Anything on comms Rosetta? Subspace? EM*? 

-Nothing on EM but collosal chatter on subspace, i cannot access their channels though they are weirdly encrypted.

-Deidra i have a fix on the signal, it's emitting in short subspace bursts from the rings of this gas giant.

Akai flicked the data from her console behind her, where it appeared on the two holographic screens Deidra had brought up.

-mmh , lower subspace band… standard adiabatic quantum coding… this is basically the same tech we use, with a twist on the encryption protocol. In the rings you said? Is it a space station or a ship?

-I get a lot of interference from their subspace chatter and we're still .21 parsec away ,the optical sensors haven't even detected the planets yet, If the people on board this ship are in danger we should jump there right away and see for ourselves.

-Akai's right captain, we can't afford to wait, and this is the first opportunity we have to make contact! 

-I agree, jump us there then, Keep the shields up, we don't know what we're getting into. Could be a trap.

-Shall I engage the cloaking too?

Deidra appeared to think about it for a second.

-No, might as well make a good first impression for once.

The familiar shifting of lights deformed the vision of everything on the bridge. Most of the crew had already summoned their armors (those who had ghosts to do so anyway) .  
In a second the ship vanished from the spot it had been in , leaving only a swiftly dissolving aura of blue light from the sublight thrusters.

The first big change was the siren, blasting a strong “WARNING, MAGNETIC STORM”  
The second was the automatic change of lights from white to red/orange, and last was the view.  
Outside the cockpit was a hellish landscape of crashing icy asteroids, projecting small debris in every direction. What was supposed to be a peaceful ice and rock ring orbiting a gas giant was now a chaotic asteroid field. On their left, the planet was obscuring most of the bridge, enormous by its mass, the curvature of the surface barely visible. 

The ring had started dissolving into a cloud of magnetically charged bits and pieces of asteroids .

-NUMIRI, SHIP STATUS!

-no damage, the shields aren’t even down a full percent, the asteroids are not moving very fast, however they are moving erratically , which is not coherent with a typical asteroid ring orbiting a gas giant.

-coherent or not , that’s what we have!

-Deidra I have the source of the signal, it’s a ship, it’s massive, several kilometers at least, , wait no, it’s breaking down, like, dissolving? I read no change in mass though…  
OH it’s a solar sail! The ship itself is very small, jumpship like , but the sail is being destroyed by the asteroids!

-why are they not moving away ? Can you hail them?

-I’m still broadcasting without their encryption protocol, I’m really not sure they can read me, or decrypt my signal!

-alright crew, what are our alternatives If we can’t communicate?

-we don’t have time for this, the ship is not shielded, I read catastrophic damage to the power cells, we need to transmat the occupants in now!

-Ro’ I can’t get a lock inside their ship! The alloy is interfering with my scans!

-Captain I estimate 3 minutes 21 seconds before loss of life support on their ship, my scans indicate the emergency reactor has been hit by the loose cables of the sails when they broke off.

-can we transmat the whole ship?

-the lock is erratic, we could seriously harm or even kill whoever’s inside with a partial breakdown.

-I’ve got an idea!

They all turned to Akai, waiting for her to explain what her idea was, but instead she went silent and activated the thrusters at half power, sending many rocks flying off when they bounced off the shields.  
The ship was quickly moving toward the broken sailship, which was rotating rather fast ,rotation caused by a loss of pressurized coolant in one of the nacelles.   
The cables holding the broken pieces of the solar sails were flailing left and right, making the ship a dangerous spinning top.

-Num gimme a countdown to life support failure. 

Numiri obliged and both displayed the numbers on every console and started counting the time left every 15 seconds .

-Michael, when I tell you, shoot off the three anchoring points of the sails, we need these cables gone.

-yes maam. 

Michael had been scanning the structure of the ship, not with the intent to shoot at it initially but right now she was glad she had done so. She quickly isolated the three targets. The weapons systems took .5 seconds to come online, so she was more than ready for the order.

-Oh I get it! Akai you have the bridge then, Ro, come with me , we’re gonna clear the hangar bay!

Akai nodded without lifting her eyes from her commands, matching the rotation of the other craft when it was constantly shifting due to the coolant leak propulsion was tricky, but she had to do it from beneath the ship, acting as a shield, pushing away the debris coming at the distressed solar sailor. Behind her the familiar sound of Deidra blinking* out of the room indicated her they wouldn't waste time getting things done. 

-2 minutes 5 seconds

-Numiri , depressurise the hangar bay the second they have their helmets on.

-done, I magnetised the floor and shut down the gravity there. Also, I had to put your ship back in engram form.

She didn’t answer, she was in the thick of it, the coolant tank was probably still full because the breach was expanding, and with it the rate of rotation. 

\- Just one second more and I’ll have it!

A droplet of sweat fell off her face onto the console, she was more concentrated than ever.

-FIRE!

Michael was waiting for it, in a swift shot from the back cannons she disintegrated the three anchors, leaving the cables and what was left of the sails fly away, hurled by the centrifugal force.

-70 seconds 

Ten seconds after the shot, the Karnaca started to slowly accelerate on the z axis while keeping the same roll rate, perfectly synched with the distressed ship. Around them it looked like the asteroid field and the planet were spinning really fast.

Oganok, Akai’s ghost chose this time to relay her the information he had received from the hangar bay.

-the bay doors are opened , they are both in position . 

\---

The asteroids spinning endlessly before them was a beautiful sight, probably nauseating in the long run. The ship was in a really bad shape, it was still about 20 meters away from the entrance of the hangar bay. The door and the ramp was still opening, it hadn’t been designed for rapid deployment, something they would have to change in the future.

In Deidra’s helmet the voice of Numiri sounded weirder than usual, was the AI anxious? Stressed about the rescue operation?

-1 minute 35 seconds

from their point of view in the Karnaca, the solar sailor seemed to slowly decelerate. They could finally make out the different areas. What was surely the cockpit was entirely covered in the blue gooey substance oozing out of the canister on the ship’s port side.   
Impossible to see through enough to discern the interior or the eventual occupants.

A silent blast of light blinded them for a second, Michael had fired .  
The cables , left to their own momentum, flew off around them, in a circle around the damaged ship. The shots had been precise, only the metallic anchor points had been shot off. Michael was a great shot. Impressive for someone who had never ACTUALLY fired the ship's weapons. (Apart from simulated battles)

-we need to seal off this fluid leak, Artemis tells me it's flammable in the presence of nitrogen. Once we get the air back on in the hangar it might blow up.

Deidra looked at her friend, her face was invisible beneath her helmet, but she could feel the intense concentrated look she always had when she was switching into problem solving mode.

-can you still summon a ward of dawn? 

Rosetta shrugged, it wasn't the time for lengthy explanations , she needed to seal it and fast.

-”70 seconds”

-alright Ro’ , jump to the ship and try to bubble that shit!.

She didn't even hesitate, not for a second . She took a running start and flew off the ground, jumping like a cannonball toward the craft. Once almost on top she realised her speed was too great, she was gonna bounce off the hull and fly off into space. It wasn't a big risk as her armor could take it but it was a colossal waste of time. Time they were running out of. 

Out of reflex , she materialised one of her swords, the first that came to her mind and in a powerful thrust planted it in a thick portion of the hull.  
She had hoped it wouldn't cut too much through and lucky for her the alloy of the ship was sturdy enough to resist.   
The blade had penetrated a good 40 cm , probably enough to be seen from the inside. 

"Bye bye good first impression"

Her involuntary maneuvers had slowed down the rotation of the craft, bringing it to the same speed as the Karnaca. Now from her point of view it looked like the two ships were immobile. In a spinning world.

She hadn't managed to summon a ward of dawn since before the fall of the tower, and it had never really been her specialty.  
Since she had got her light back a lot had changed, now the bubble of void energy was completely inaccessible for her, and the urgency right now wasn't going to help her .

She had to find another solution. 

-”55 seconds”

And fast.

The Karnaca was slowly moving toward her. If she was to do something it had to be now, or they wouldn't be able to repressurize the hangar and the passengers of the craft would die anyway in it.  
Suddenly she rushed toward the breach in the canister. A partially torn off component offered her secured footing, enough to let both her hands free.   
Her hands began to glow , she was going to try something she had never attempted before. Summon only the half of a light construct. Only the heat, not the shape.  
A difficult exercise that usually only old experienced warlock attempted. She had read about it in one of Deidra's books.   
To her surprise the process felt extremely easy for her, almost effortless. The hear was seeping out of her hands, but instead of taking the shape of her usual burning maul, it swirled off directly in the direction she was pointing. 

The piece of metal she was aiming at, bended out of position by an unfortunate impact, was rapidly heating, passing quickly from blue to red to yellowy white.  
The absence of atmosphere and of oxygen specifically meant she could weld this hot metal with just a swing of a hammer..  
That she didn't have.   
"I didn't get that far to be bested here by a simple lack of tools!"  
In a desperate attempt she hammered the two pieces of metal with her fist, banging with all of her (considerable) strength over the leak in hopes of sealing the breach.   
She kept banging until she heard a familiar voice.

-”15 seconds”

She looked up, the craft was entirely in the hangar bay, her repair so to speak had worked , the leak was sealed for now, the blue goo was no longer spurting from the canister.  
The only problem was the ramp and door still closing at agonisingly slow speeds.  
Until a force field appeared in the closing gap.  
The return of sound and a swooshing noise indicated to her that atmosphere was back.   
Just like Artemis had warned her, the blue goo caught fire the second it came in contact with the nitrogen contained in air.  
Only now it was just a superficial layer burning away and not a canister full of the stuff exploding.  
Rosetta went back to take her sword out of the ship, which was now safely laying on the ground, with the gravity slowly coming back online.

Deidra was talking through her ghost to the ship's PA system.

-The package is in, air pressure is good, door is closed and we have 4 seconds to spare! Akai you want to come by? This is an important event. Numiri can take us out of the asteroid field .  
-On my way.

Artemis appeared over Rosetta's shoulder as she was jumping off the ship onto the ground.

-I detect only one life sign on board, and the hole you made when you removed your sword equalized the atmosphere inside with ours. It's exactly the same composition.

Akai appeared shortly after , wearing not her armor but the uniform she had designed. Rather formal, it was a desaturated navy blue with touches of copper. She was very proud of this uniform, according to her it gave off an impression of strength and seriousness while indicating a sensibility to style. And she was right , they agreed on that. 

-The uniform? What if they are antagonistic? 

-We just saved them. I don't see why they would shoot at us. Also i look cute as fuck in this and you know it

-damn right you do!

Rosetta was cracking up, removing her helmet.  
Deidra smiled too but kept her armor, only resorbing her helmet into it's engram form.

Despite what her face showed she was ready for anything, discreetly choosing an emergency loadout of weapons to materialise in the blink of an eye if she summoned them.

-"there's no door."

-mmh?

-Num's right, there is no hatch or door for them to exit the craft, I have no idea how they got in.

Akai was rather incredulous, she summoned the scans of the craft from her ghost, rotating it in the air to search for something that had escaped them.

-are we even sure there are people inside? 

-well there was an atmosphere inside so i assumed so yes. And didn't the scans indicate there were life signs?

-also there is a glass cockpit. 

Deidra walked around the craft, observing closely every aspect of it ,now that it laid still on the floor of the hangar bay. 

-still nothing on comms? We're clear of the gravimetric eddies of the rings now cracking the encryption should be easier.

-"the encryption algorithm is indeed broken in but the comms array of the craft have been destroyed by the cables when they were, "released" from the craft."

-Deidra to michael, can you come to the hangar bay please, we're gonna need your help.

-"on my way captain".

-Are you afraid the occupants are dead? We still had 10 seconds to spare before the shut down of their life support system, they should be fine! Well, except for any damage they could have gotten from inside…

-No i want to know where they are inside the craft so we can safely cut it open.

-Yeah that'll do it. 

Akai smirked, looking amused at her captain. Choosing the blunt option was rather uncharacteristic, she would have expected that from Rosetta, but probably not from the old warlock.  
Michael arrived at this moment from the central elevator.   
She was holding a first aid kit quickly assembled by Sobek. The ghost was actually flying directly behind her.

-ready for anything i see! Good thinking you two!

-considering the amount of damage the craft has taken it would be foolish to think the pilot is perfectly fine!

-pilot? Just one?

-yeah Numiri confirmed there's only one life sign, but it doesn't register as human. Don't get too hopeful.

-are you kidding ? We're gonna meet aliens!! This is so fucking cool I'm so pumped! 

Akai's cheerfulness was warming the rest of the crew present in the hangar bay.  
-I'm so glad I put on the uniform! 

-Not human uh? I wonder why they have human tech, or tech evolved from ours.

-from a statistical standpoint I see no reason to assume they didn't just evolve technologies along the same path as us without necessarily crossing. We can’t assume they met our kind before.

Rosetta lifted an eyebrow.

-Wasn't the SOS in english? 

-"no it was broadcast in over 2000 languages simultaneously actually, i just displayed the most familiar."

-2000???? that's INSANE!

While they were conversing, Michael had activated her magnetic sonar, a brilliant piece of invention that allowed her to get a clear reading of any structure as long as she could submit it to a low energy EM pulse.   
She raised a hand to tell them she was finished, waiting for them to stop talking.

-the pilot is sitting there , near this triangular part, the thinnest part is here, but the safest for the pilot is 1m34 to the left here . This way we also avoid cutting through one of the coolant lines to the engines that goes around here to there. 

-are they wearing protective gear? 

-as far as i can tell yes, but anyway they are protecting their face with their hands and knees right now.

-alright then i hope they stay that way for now!

Saying so Deidra rose from the ground, the temperature in the room suddenly rising a few dozen degrees. Behind her had appeared a pair of flaming wings and in her hands, light was shaping into the form of a bright sword.

Looking at her directly was painful, the brightness of the blade conjured out of solar light was eclipsing any other lights in the room, shadows disappeared everywhere as she was shining in the room like a miniature sun.

Akai loved watching her use her powers, Deidra had spent decades, centuries perfecting her techniques, what had started as an intimidation technique to avoid killing her opponents was now completely subconscious. Namely, her hair were burning like fire, producing an aura of flames and heat going off around her. Now it happened anytime she was using solar light, but she had explained that in the beginning it required her a great deal of concentration just to maintain the illusion. Void was Akai’s favourite. When using void light, her entire skin darkened and displayed stars like patterns, revolving like the actual starry background. It was frightening and marvelous to look at the same time.

Once high enough off the ground, The old warlock raised her blade in a much assured gesture. When she lowered the arm , a wave of energy, thinner than a hair, burned through the air of the room until it hit the back of the craft, slicing it in two effortlessly.

The hull had been cut by the equivalent of a thousand lasers, almost nothing could withstand such a hit, and the floor tiles beneath the craft were also damaged, not enough to jeopardize the integrity of the hull, but enough to know that Numiri was gonna be pissed about it.

She let the flow of light die in her hands, floating softly back to the ground, her blade and fiery feathers vanished. The room was cooling too now that she had gone down.

-think we should go in or just wait for them to get out?

Akai shrugged, Rosetta’s question was valid, they had really no idea what to do here, what would leave the best impression?

-maybe we should wait, show that we’re not aggressive or scavengers?

-yeah ok.

The three guardians, Michael , Sobek and Numiri who had joined them discreetly during Deidra’s floating operation, gathered patiently on the side of the opening.  
The metal, red hot at first, was rapidly cooling, most of the alloys and wires were already back to their original colors, well , except for the burn marks.

After a good 30 second, a hand appeared from inside the craft, tentatively, centimeter by centimeter, a short humanoid figure exited the open husk of the solar sailor.

-Welcome aboard the Karnaca! We picked up your distress signal, are you alright? Do you need medical assistance?

The pilot touched her wrist and her helmet vanished , revealing the face of a young human girl, with red and black hair . She looked terrified, yet her brown eyes betrayed an intense curiosity.

-you’re … Humans?

She looked around, observing the hangar bay, then she noticed Akai . her eyes stopped dead when she saw the awoken woman , but it wasn't’ shock, it was a burning desire to know more , to understand what was around her. She then jumped to Numiri, looking at the exo with the same curiosity.

-I’m sorry let me start over! Thank you so much for saving my life! My name is Myaree Djahnanah, I’m from the planet Besehno, seventh planet in the Izar binary system. It is an honour to meet you !

She did what looked like a weird reverence , probably a local custom . Rosetta and Numiri did the same, unsure they were supposed to or not.

Suddenly Sobek appeared before her, scanning her.

Rosetta was worried Myaree, since that was her name, would be offended or startled by the sudden appearance of the ghost, but no, on the contrary she held her hand underneath him, like she wanted to hold him.

-oh what’s this?

The little blue ghost stopped scanning for a second.

-this? I’m a who not a what, the name’s Sobek.

-oh I’m so sorry I had no idea you were a sentient life form, my deepest apologies!

-she’s 82 percent human, young, incredibly healthy, and as weird as it sounds she absorbs EM radiations.

-so you’re really not from this system? Where are you from? Another colonie?

-colonie? No we’re from Earth.

The news acted like an electroshock on the young girl, she looked like someone had just thrown her a bucket of cold water.  
She was struggling to stay on her feet, until Sobek materialised a crate she could sit on. 

-so Earth hasn’t been destroyed? This is phenomenal news!! I can’t believe I’m the first to make contact with people of Sol! How did you get my message so fast? Wait no how did you cover the distance from Sol in time to save me?? It’s more than 250 light years!! You must have centuries of technological advance on us! How big is your ship? What does it work on, how, what did you cut my ship with ? I've never seen anything like it, well I’ve never seen anything like literally everything I’m looking at right now. Except the Frame here. Are you an alien? Or did you just modify your genetic structure? How come your hair are white?

-huh, that’s a lot of questions…

-how about we slow down a bit. Numiri, wanna set a course to this young lady’s planet? 

-done, it’s gonna take an hour and a half.

-WOW ! it took me three weeks to get this far !

-let’s start with names shall we? I’m Deidra , the giant armored woman is Rosetta, this is Michael, Akai and Numiri. We have two more crew members but they are not here right now.   
Blacksmith popped from thin air over her, quickly followed by the two others.

-Oh and these are our ghosts, Blacksmith, Artemis and Oganok. I’m guessing from your reaction to Sobek you’ve never seen one of these.

-correct, do you all have one? 

-no, only us guardians, but let’s start with less complicated subjects. Do you wish to drink or eat something? 

Before myaree could answer, Akai had steeped in between them

-how about we do this on the CIC, I believe we have better chairs than this.

She pointed at the crate of ammunition Myaree was sitting on.   
Deidra nodded and they all started walking toward the elevator at the end of the room.

-oh you’d let me visit the ship? Oh please I would give anything to tour it!

-I don’t see why not? By the way is there an authority we need to contact regarding your safety? Your hierarchical superiors perhaps?

-your parents? Added Rosetta, she was being cheeky but a part of her was genuinely concerned as to what such a young person was doing alone in space.

-eh , no , I … I’m the only spacefaring besenohan, I don’t have an organisation backing me …

-a lone traveller? Is it a rite of passage or something similar? Customary to your world?

-no no, I’m , well, I .. I am here by passion, I always wanted to travel the stars so I built a ship and…

-wait you BUILT a ship?

-yes I’m an engineer by trade, I made it to allow me to test systems for later interstellar travel.

-I’m sorry but you BUILT a spaceship by yourself? Travellers’s light how good an engineer must you be! This is outstanding! I can’t believe it! 

Myaree was finding this Akai woman nicer by the minute, she was fascinated by the way light seemed to glow from inside her white eyes, instead of reflecting.

-thank you, it was a considerable challenge! 

-I bet! 

Saying so she opened the door to the CIC , designating the great conference table, where cookies were put on a plate.  
From the windows all around a blue planet was visible, with pale blue rings . 

-wow we’re nearing Izar 8 already? Your ship really is incredibly fast!

-not to brag but we can go faster!

They both turned around to see where the voice had come from: Torres was standing by the door , holding a bottle of red juice with a smirk.

-Torres, nice to meet you, I’m this ship’s chief engineer, as I hear it we are in the same branch!

-Yes I am , an engineer I mean! I’m very happy to meet you! Did you design this ship?

-no, but i was designed to operate it though, my body and mind are specifically suited for interfacing with it.

-oh you’re a sort of artificial intelligence? I thought maybe this was an armor.

-yeah I’m an experimental frame. Only Deidra, Rosetta and Akai are “organics”, the rest of the crew is comprised of synthetics.

Now that almost everyone was sitting at the table, Akai was eyeing the cookies on the plate, wondering who had baked them. 

-would you care for a cookie Myaree? 

She slid the plate to her, the girl was visibly interested, but unsure what to do, it was offered freely, was it rude to eat it before them? To eat at all when they were surely going to ask her so many questions. She took one but kept it in her hands, giving the plate back to the awoken. 

Who took three before handing them over to the next.

-I have so many questions! You’re from Earth, this is incredible, we thought it had been destroyed, we thought Sol had been totally annihilated.

-maybe we should start at the beginning? Do you mind answering a few questions before we do? It will help locating when to start the narrative.

-yes, please ask away, i’m not a history expert but I will do my best to answer any of your questions!

-alright, first things first, how come there are people in this star system?

-ah so the messages never reached you then. Well it’s a long story, my people and I are descendants of a colony ship called Exodus Pink , which left Sol in late 2207 . The original target system was Barnard’s star, however something happened during the trip and the ship was knocked severely off course, resulting in the impossibility to reach any other system than this one. It took them 15 years to reach this system, where they found a livable planet that they later baptised Besehno. As you have surely noticed too, my system is very isolated , we are in a void bubble spanning more than 400 light years. For the past 837 years we’ve been living peacefully on this planet , without attempting to travel to other stars because of the immense gap. Laser focused messages were sent toward Sol but they knew it would take centuries to reach earth. Later when subspace comms were invented my people kept sending messages, none were answered. Until in 2329 the AI onboard the exodus pink was remotely shut down by Earth. A few years later an exotic matter explosion eclipsed the system in our sky, since then we simply thought Sol had been destroyed.

She had seen their faces lit up upon mention of the name exodus pink, visibly they knew of it. 

-I don’t think you understand how relieved we are to learn that one of the Amrita ships made it. This is our mission,find out what happened to all of them. So far it’s been nothing but void and tears. I am thrilled, no ,overjoyed to see humanity thrived here!

Deidra was wiping a tear off her eye, this was the first good news since they had departed, it meant so much to her, the larger implications were just as positive. Humanity wasn’t condemned anymore, at least one of the ships had succeeded in its mission. If one did, more had to do so as well, a whole new world was possible now.

-oh, you have the location of the other colony ships? How many have you visited so far?

-two, we speculated from evidence or lack thereof that they were both destroyed or lost.   
And honestly finding Exodus Pink here is a coincidence, we had no idea this system was inhabited, according to our star charts it wasn’t. We didn’t even jump here on purpose.

Myaree was hoping between hundreds of questions in her head, which ones to ask first, there were so many good ones! She had completely forgot she was still holding a cookie.

-I think we can shed a bit of light on some events you talked about, first of all, while sol wasn’t destroyed, the date you mention is known now as the collapse, the end of civilisation as we know it in the solar system, most planets were abandoned , the population was reduced to mere fragments of what it was. The explosion you talked of must be the last stand of the traveler. None of us were alive then…

-well I was but I had no body then and my sensors were cut off.

Deidra squinted at Numiri, this intervention was not really necessary.  
They put their hands up as to say “my bad keep going”

-so yeah none of us witnessed it, and actual records of the time are conflicting. The only thing we know is that the Traveller, for the first time, took a stand and chose to fight back the darkness, it sort of detonated itself, over what once was central europe, destroying the enemy forces just enough to leave them as helpless as humanity.

-hold on hold on what is the darkness? What enemies are you talking about? Aliens? Other beings like the Traveller? There are others?

Artemis flew over the table from her designated spot nested in the fur of Rosetta’s armor.

-we’re not really sure what the darkness is to be honest, we’ve only really seen species corrupted by it. The darkness itself seems to be a power dedicated to eradicating anything the Traveller does. Among its forces are five alien species, or at least five we’ve encountered. 

-but then how did you develop such technology after such a terrible tragedy? Did the traveller give new gifts?

-yes and no, the traveller entered a period of , let’s call it slumber, after the collapse, silently hovering over the mountain range in south america. But it did give something before doing so. Us , ghosts, we are born of the light, the traveller made us to find those who could wield it’s light as a weapon. Our guardians. We are bonded to them , joined in a fight against the darkness and the enemies of humanity.

-this is a lot to take in… so Earth endured but none of the inner colonies? I imagine so much must have been lost, history, art, people. So many must have died terrified, alone…

Akai was staring at the young girl sitting next to her. Her reaction reminded her a lot of what she felt when Oganok had told her of the collapse. She understood what she was going through in a way.

-so this is what you are then, guardians, all of you? And you Akai, are you one of these alien species you talked about? 

-yes we are guardians, but only Rosetta, the captain and me, and no I’m not really an alien, but I’m not human either. You see, what you described as an exotic matter explosion caught a colony ship at the moment it was entering warp, the two conflicting forces ripped a hole in the fabric of space, creating a sort of pocket universe , where the ship was teleported in. only the light of the Traveler altered all the passengers, thus were my people, the awoken, born, changed, from human to what they are now. The awoken then realised that their universe was finite, and that there had to be something else out there, over millennias my people devised technologies to allow themselves to cross back to this universe, only to realise only a few centuries had passed on the other side. 

-woah… okay.. That’s a lot! How did you become guardians? Is it a choice? Are there trials? Since you are one I suspect it is not dependent on being human?and you're millenias old then?

Oganok joined Artemis in front of the young besenohan girl.

-we don’t really choose our guardians, the process is , let's say complicated, but the nicest way to say it is …

-we were dead.

-what??

-we all died , almost a thousand ago for me, probably around the collapse for these two, as guardians we arise without memories from our first life, the only thing we know is what our ghost tells us. And most of the time it’s how to survive long enough to reach the city.

Myaree was looking rather shocked, she clearly wasn’t expecting that.

-I’m sorry kid, you wanted to know the truth and now you do, i know it is a bit harsh.

-no no I’m not scared or anything I’m trying to assimilate all these informations, every question you answer brings up ten more! How do you know when you died? How do you know your names?

-I found records of my previous life and ran facial and DNA recognition with golden age archivesI explored in the past two hundred years. And for the names we…

-wait you’re more than 200 years old? But you look in you late thirties? How is that possible?

-Guardians don’t age, we stay the way we are risen until either our ghost is destroyed or we get completely destroyed. In a way we are immortal, the oldest guardians are almost as old as the first ghosts. I’m 207. For the names most of us get them from either other guardians or civilians, some guardians name themselves, like Akai here.

-so if i got this right, if your ghost stays safe you can technically live forever?

-technically yes but life as a guardian is filled with almost nothing else but mortal peril. Our ghost can revive us through pretty much anything, until they can’t. The powers of the darkness are known to neutralise their ability to revive us.

-ok ok i want to come back to that later… so, about this ship, did you build it yourself? How come you made such leaps in space travel technology?

-Numiri i think this one's for you.

-it would be my pleasure! The ship and myself were built a few years before the collapse, by scientists hailing from different technological corporations, wishing for a different path than the one taken by their bosses. The study of an extra dimensional alien species called the Vex brought new understanding of the laws of physics, and with it application in the space propulsion area. The breakthroughs were many, propulsion, artificial intelligence, weaponry, however such advances and alliances between disciplines were forbidden at the time by the two most powerful science consortiums of the period. To do so in peace they built a secret base on one of the moons of Saturn , Enceladus.   
I was made to operate this new generation of engines, to calculate probabilities, trajectory and energy requirement to break the dimensional barriers .   
As far as I know I was the only ship made this way, with this technology. I was almost finished when the collapse happened. My creator asked me to stay dormant for a time, promised they would come back and finish the work. They never did, until Akai found me 800 years later, still cut off from the outside world, encased in ice in the ruins of my abandoned facility.  
They repaired and finished me, offering me the opportunity to accomplish my missions and theirs at the same time.   
The technology to make me has been lost to time unfortunately, the advances in science on Earth nowadays are exclusively restricted to two domains, weaponry and study of the light.  
The ruling authorities of Earth are not interested in interstellar travel, they consider our endeavour vain and useless. Which is partially why we left without telling them.

Everyone in the room side eyed Numiri , flabbergasted, they were not forced to divulge this specific fact to just anyone!

-Hum yeah so here we are looking for the colony ships. Anyway, how come you ventured into the asteroid field with your solar sailor? Was your trajectory changed or did you have a malfunction that forced you there?

-Honestly i have no idea what happened with the rings, all my instruments were going nuts.

-My sensor readings might shed light on that specific part, the planet is undergoing magnetic poles inversion, the whole magnetic field is changing, right now it’s rather chaotic.  
The rings are part of that magnetosphere, specifically the inner rings, they produce a stable electric current when they pass through the outer atmosphere of the giant, current that magnetised them.  
So the rings are going to form a cloud for a certain number of years before either being swallowed by the gas giant or from again as rings.

-How did you analyse so much data? I thought you just arrived in this system?

-Oh this is my speciality! I was made to analyse data at an accelerated rate . I actually got these analyses done in the first six seconds after we arrived in the asteroid field.

-Stop bragging Numiri we are arriving in orbit of Besehno

While Torres was nagging the exo, Myaree was processing all these revelations. Even the supercomputers on besehno would take days, weeks even to compile and catalogue this much raw data!  
This weird frame before her was capable of computing on a whole other level.

-I suggest we all go down to the bridge , the sight is rather nice!

-Good idea, Myaree you want to look at your planet from orbit?

-If the windows are as big as these ones i would love to!

Rosetta smiled and showed the staircase leading down in the middle of the CIC, if she thought the windows of the CIC were big, the kid was in for a surprise on the bridge.

Climbing down the stairs to the bridge, the first thing Myaree saw was the door, ((sided )) on each side with wooden statues of Earth animals.   
She was already liking this when she turned around down the stairs, seeing the bridge for the first time.  
The bridge itself was almost integraly made of windows. Almost 4 meters tall on each sides, joining seamlessly in the front in the shape of an arrow.   
Outside the majesty of the planet was revealing itself to her. 

They were approaching at great speed, visibly slowing down as the sphere grew closer and closer. Myaree had been to the abandoned space station linked to the space elevator several times , just to look at the view, but the station was in a very low orbit while right now they were orbiting several million kilometers away. 

When she had departed the planet a few weeks earlier she had had no opportunity to spend time just watching at the panorama. And anyway the windows on her craft were little and scarce to limit the structural weaknesses.

This view was new to her. This was what she was here for, the thrill of seeing this beauty. As she was staring she suddenly felt an intense emotion , something she had never paid much attention too before. Hard to explain. An intense love and respect for her planet, for the people on it. They were her people and she was proud of them, of her culture . She wanted to share it.  
She took a step back and looked around her. Almost all of them were also glued to the windows, detailing everything they could see from orbit, sharing excited comments on their observations, clever quips between friends, it felt genuine. No. More than that, it felt true. 

An idea was silently growing in the back of her brain, sprouting from their company, from the view and from what was to come.  
She wanted to share with them what she knew, what she had lived on this planet, and she wanted to hear what they had lived. What was the point of all this exploring if not for sharing it?   
She was interrupted in her daydreaming by a hand gently laid on her shoulder. She turned around instinctively, surprised such a familiar gesture was coming from these strange people. Maybe not so strange after all.  
The one with the red hair and strong jawline was facing her, looking down at her with a smile. Damn she was tall, was she wearing heels on her own bridge too? 

Myaree should have felt intimidated, as far as she had understood that lady was their captain, and she was old apparently, very old. Despite looking like she was in her forties. But the thing that prevented Myaree from feeling intimidated was the warmth of her smile. Such a caring smile? It looked like she was radiating strength and peace, maybe that was the true power the Traveller had bestowed her guardians ? 

-is there a governing body we should warn of our arrival? I don't want to activate any kind of defense system or provoke them into an armed response needlessly.

-uh, well there is the house of parliament but it's empty most of the time, Besehno hadn't had an actual governing body in about five centuries. Each community, village or house is technically independent.

-how does your planet organise its defences? An AI? 

-defenses? We have none. Weapons haven't been developed by my people since, I don't know ,a few years after arrival? The void space is protection enough. At least that's what we thought. We had no idea about this whole darkness thing. Man I'm gonna have to tell them about that! 

-Captain we still can't broadcast on their frequencies, the encryption is multiphasic, we need an entry point. Brute forcing it would take me at least a day and a half.

-why did your people develop such strong encryption protocols? War? 

-oh no Besehno has never known war! I don't understand, your technology seems vastly superior to ours, why can't you just broadcast on all subspace frequencies?

-we can, and have been doing so trying to reach your craft by the way, but there is an encryption protocol preventing us from breaking into your data lattice.

Numiri pointed toward their screen , showing the flow of data.   
The user interface was unfamiliar to Myaree, but still usable, it followed a certain logic. She was so used to her own UI preferences that other systems on her own planet had seemed strange to her before. This was not much different. 

-ha ! That's funny, it looks like our alphabet shifted a bit, there are some more letters in mine! 

Akai turned to watch the kid move around on the holographic screen. She had just discovered it and she was already working around that thing with relative ease. But more importantly that look of unbridled curiosity had overtaken her. This demon Akai knew well, for it had animated her as well often when she was still repairing the very ship they were standing in . 

-Your communications array is … rather old tech actually? Well no, that's not the right word, it's just very different. Our drive differs.

-ugh? What? 

-Well with all the invasions and wars you had your scientists had to press on what could save them, weapons, ships, But my people have always been peaceful, weapons were superfluous, as were ships. We developed in an entirely different direction! This is so exciting! We should totally share both our technological advances ! Both would gain!

Deidra was looking puzzled, she looked around to read the room, making sure she wasn't the only one feeling that way.

-huh I'm not feeling super great about handing out weapons to peaceful people I have to be honest.

-I was thinking more about your space travel tech. Here, I opened up a channel through the monument in Mozhdeni. It's a city. With a communication department. In the university at least. 

Artemis raised an imaginary eyebrow.

-university? You called your school?

-alright gang ,stop fooling around , i want everyone at their stations, Myaree, can you introduce us, I'm guessing it will make things easier?

-sure thing Captain!

Akai and Rosetta chuckled at the sight of Myaree doing a sort of sailor salute to Deidra. Who looked kinda confused in her chair in the middle of the bridge. Sure she WAS the captain but she still felt weird being called that. And being called that by this kid was even weirder.

-you don't have to call me that you know, Deidra will suffice!

Myaree had no time to answer as the communication channel opened on a panicked voice . A voice Myaree immediately recognised.

-Myaree is that you?? Your beacon stopped working! we've been worried sick!! Why can’t I see you? The video feed is down!

-hi mahmi I'm okay, everything's fine! Well sort of… I'll explain soon, I had to cut the trip short, technical issues.  
Can you gather the family? I'm coming in for a landing soon.

-I'm so glad to hear you're safe my love! 

Her voice cracked for a bit , interferences maybe? What she was saying was hard to understand , it seemed she had strayed far away from the microphone. Until the words "yeah she's fine, she's coming back though, no i don't know what happened" came through, making it clear she was in fact talking to someone else in the room she was in.

Rosetta disconnected the microphone on their end for a second. 

-wait you want us to land now? We haven't even made contact with the government or anything?

-i told you there is no real government. And my family is really nice, you'll see! I'm sure you'll like them!

-I… that's not really the issue here, I'm sure they are as fascinating as you but it feels really… informal? Our first contact with your people…

-well you'd be bringing me safely to my family, that's a pretty good impression if that's what you're worried about.

Deidra and Rosetta stared at each other for a second, speechless , which wasn't in their habits.   
This young woman had a remarkable mind, under this apparent shell of carelessness she had actually acted on a problematic they hadn't talked about.   
Deidra glanced at her as she was talking back to her mother, specifying the landing zone and the time. She would make a great addition to the team!   
No. What was she thinking? She was only a kid! With no combat experience. And not a guardian either. Her life would be in constant danger aboard the ship, their mission was incredibly dangerous. She had no right to ask her to leave a home where she was happy and safe.  
Who was she trying to fool, the planet and society the kid has described looked like paradise, she would never want to leave it in the first place.

-It's all set up Captain, i didn't say anything about you, your crew or your ship, it will be a surprise!! Oh boy they're gonna freak out!!

-Uh we may regret this. Alright . Let's do this your way. Michael let the shields raised until we hit the ground, better safe than sorry.

-do you need the shields to withstand the heat of reentry? 

-no, it's just in case your planet has defences you don't know about. I think you're telling the truth but you're young, I can't take that chance. I have to consider that you don't know everything about your planet. And its potential defense systems.

-that's fair, i understand.Your duty is to your crew first!

Diedra had feared offending the besenohan but she nodded peacefully, appearing just as relaxed as before.

-alright crew, everyone in uniform, lock up the armory, I want us to look our best for our first actual first contact!

The order Deidra had given was more of a formality, the crew was actually already reaching critical levels of excitement about the idea of meeting an entirely new civilisation.  
Rosetta was leaving her post to grab something other than armor in her personal quarters upstairs on deck 1

\----

Namun, Myaree’s mom, was pacing up and down outside of her house, to her left laid the field of scraps her husband and herself worked to repurpose, while the right side was covered in tall grass, with several little red flowers poking out every few meters. Down that way the slope was gently curving until a cliff, with a small path carved into it,leading down to a beach made out of ochre sand. From there the ocean was showing it’s immensity , calm today , very few waves, from her spot in the front of the house Namun could see some sails far away on the water.

Why was Myaree back so soon? It made no sense, she had been closely monitoring her daughter’s trajectories these past few weeks, and normally she was supposed to be near Izar 6, one of the gas giants of the system. With only one week to go to reach her destination of Izar 5, where she was to rejoin her brother. , then come back via Transmat.  
She sounded fine on the brief call they had shared earlier today, excited even, she knew her daughter enough to realise something was missing in her story.how did she come back so quickly? Gravity slingshot around izar 6? Ion storm increasing the velocity of her sail? 

-relax Naman, she said she was safe, no need to freak out. She’s a big girl now, not a kid anymore…

-you talking to me love? 

-mmh? No no, I'm just rambling. I’m scared to be honest, what happened to her out there, do you think she transmated her ship back here because she had a problem?

-wasn't’ the whole challenge of her trip the fact that there are no transmat relay stations able to transmat a ship in her path? Anyway she will tell us when she comes back, which is …

He summoned the numbers from his wrist device.

-... in 7 minutes.

Matijs was roasting Mozenco on the grill for her daughter’s return, whatever happened in space, she had to abort, something she would feel terrible about and would more than likely depress her, his gesture was small, but her favourite dish might still bring her up a little.

He had gone hunting the moment he had heard she was coming back , wishing for her to feel at home right the moment she would come back.  
Mozencos were not particularly hard to hunt, a well placed arrow would take care of the scaly bird like creatures, but they were rather long to cook. Luckily he had found a pack almost immediately, down the beach , grazing on algae next to the surf.  
While his wife was pacing , visibly nervous , he was trying his best to keep his composure, not to freak her out even more.

Truth is he was just as worried. What had happened for Myaree to abandon her dream so close to the goal? Was she injured, their daughter had the annoying habit of downplaying most injuries. Granted she had never really been seriously hurt in her life (at least physically, as he knew about her breakup with Donnaçi), he was afraid she would lie to them to protect them from the anxiety.

Acid smoke was rising to his nose, he had dissociated for too long, one of the birds was starting to burn.

-ouch! 

-did you try to pick one up with your fingers again?

-... no… Naman sighted then smiled and turned toward her husband. 

-here let me take a look.

The moment she was taking his hands thunder pierced the sky, followed by a rumbling and a flash of light.  
They both looked up immediately to see what looked like a meteorite dissolving into the atmosphere, heading for their position.

-what the fuck?

Before they could move the meteorite stopped burning and slowed down considerably , enough for them to get a good look at it.

It looked like a ship, white and black, it was now making a wide circle around their house, decreasing in altitude and speed every second. The ship was visibly on a landing trajectory. A few hundred meters off the ground, three struts appeared out of the gold colored undercarriage.

The ship was leaving swirling vapor trails behind it, less and less as its angle of attack decreased with altitude.

It landed softly in the tall grass field. A few dozen meters away from the house, from them.  
Naman was still gripping Matjis arm with strength, absolutely terrified.

The back of the ship opened , and several silhouettes emerged from the back ramp as it was lowering. One of them ran toward them.  
It took them almost a second to recognise their daughter.  
All the fear, the anxiety vanished from their hearts instantly, she was radiating such joy, the two parents knew everything in the world had to be alright.

\----

-So you were born before the golden age then?

Matijs was sitting next to Deidra, avidly trying to ask all the questions that were burning him following the tale Myaree had told.   
After Myaree had answered the pressing questions about her return, her rescue, as it turned out and her “discovery” , she had invited her new “friends” into her home. Her parents, once reassured, had decided to throw a sort of feast to celebrate not only her return, but the first contact with Earth in the history of their Planet.  
These weird strangers had soon started to lose the shroud of mystery surrounding them as their adventures were laid before the assembly.   
To Matijs surprise , this crew, composed of more synthetic beings than organics , were excellent storytellers, they didn’t shy away from their past, going to great lengths to share the traumas they had suffered, the joys they had found and the friendship built along the way.

They were different, sure, more than just from the cultural drift of the two planets, they were physically different, they had a sort of … aura? The three human woman, or the two humans and the “Awoken” as it was the term she had used to describe her People, were projecting a sort of absolute strength, a power beyond comprehension, you could feel this power flowing from them, yet they were incredibly humble, travelers, here to learn, not to preach, Matjis could see in their eyes a great hunger for knowledge, for experience, a look he knew well, for he had seen it consistently in the eyes of his own daughter Myaree for the past 17 years.

The table had been set in a hurry, none of the besenohan knew what the frames and the “Exo” would eat, so they had replicated bits of pretty much every dish they could think of.  
In the hour following the landing, almost all of Myaree’s family had arrived , only missing were her sister and their nieces, as it was the middle of the night where they lived and they were most certainly sleeping. 

Now all of them were engaged in pleasant conversation with the crew, some of the revelations had been pretty serious shock to the besenohans, while the crew took immense pleasure in learning about the rich history of this world.

-yes, my first life happened in the first part of the 21st century, but i don’t remember any of it, as far as I can tell i have nothing in common, except my body that is, with my original self. I know of her from archives, and from the music she wrote, but honestly not much else. My current life started 207 years ago, when I was resurrected.

Deidra was choosing to keep some details for herself, she wasn’t ready to talk about her personal mission to people she had met only an hour ago. 

-I see! Sorry for my misinterpretation! Yes the resurrection by your “Ghost” right?! Fascinating notion really! Conditional immortality!

She was amazed that these people were more interested in their lives than in the major events they had missed since their departures from Sol. It was refreshing in a way, meeting people devoid of the traumatism of war, genocide and constant threath of anihilation.   
Myaree’s family were so different from every human she had met before, they were… fulfilled, they belonged here, not in contempt of what they had, their culture was clearly not one taking anything for granted, but happy to walk their own path. For a second of fleeting daydreaming she saw herself coming back to this planet, settle here, surrounded by the peace this world was full of. Before her memories of her past brought her back. 

Myaree was so different from them, you could see the similarities, the traits she had inherited from her parents, the quirks she shared with her siblings, the cultural background was the same, but the drive… Myaree was walking a path none of them could see or understand.  
But she could. And from the brief conversation she had with her fireteam when they were setting up the table, they had felt the same about the kid.

\---

-you’ll see, the statue and the memorial are exquisite! Maybe seeing someone from your past in person will bring back some pre-rez memories?

-I doubt it but i'll keep an open mind, we never know.

Two days had passed since they had returned Myaree to her family on Besehno. A time they had taken to meet friends of the family, the extended cousins and all, and more importantly, the council of this province, twelve besenohans volunteering for this year’s citizen council. They had learned that their method of government was so different from they knew on Earth that they were completely lost in this one. From their point of view it looked like everyone was more or less doing what they wanted, and the council was picked from different volunteers in the population each year to oversee the rare problems that could arise. Self sufficiency in energy, food and necessity completely changed their society, from the moment they had settled, the ideology of the golden age had prevailed, and things such as violence , crime and hatred had naturally disappeared. 

Akai had read some archives back home about such societies during the golden age but meeting one, comprising an entire civilisation, an entire planet, was different, much more intense. The besenohan were curious ,avid of new knowledge to learn and share. Sharing was one of their most important values. This world was growing on her, fast.   
Today Akai, Torres and Numiri had expressed the wish to visit the old capital city, to see the remnants of the Colony ship, to meet more people and see what life in the city was like on this world.

The four of them disappeared in a blink of light as they were transported to Mozdeni. 

Before them stood the 300 meters of metal and composite , like frozen in time, of the Exodus Pink. A towering memorial, left at the very spot it landed 837 years ago, the city built all around it in a star like pattern. 

\- the ship is visible from every part of the city, they built the buildings so that none would be taller, to remind us where we come from . On a good day the shadows draw fantastic patterns on these buildings here and here.

-it’s… intact? How come it never rusted or even suffered from the rain and wind?

-low band electrostatic field, rain doesn't actually touch it , nor does oxygen. It’s also why the flying animals don’t land on it. The Statue is rigged the same way, so the bronze doesn’t corrode. Here!

She was pointing at the mass of metal between a huge building with columns and the ship.  
It was a statue, half as big as the Karnaca, depicting a woman in a sort of archaic spacesuit, one of her hands extended toward the sky. Her face was so finely sculpted she looked almost alive. Akai was in awe of the sculpture. This giant woman was definitely having an impact on her little awoken heart.

-This is Captain Mozhdeh Khodzhayev! On the memorial are engraved…

Akai had stopped listening. Sure the woman in the statue was beautiful, but she also seemed… familiar? Cherished? Like part of her was saddened by her passing and proud of her accomplishments. 

-This is your School I take it? Big greek like building , that’s what you said right?

-yeah we can go take a peek afterwards if you want but first i want to show you the museum!

...

\----

-it’s… rather embarrassing, or more like intimate, so i’d rather not reveal it but i understand if you need to know why I need to consult your genetic registries. 

-they are open to the public but since you’re technically not a besenohan citizen i don’t know if you could access them, I don’t want to intrude but such registries are usually not to be perused except in case of genetic diseases or kids doing ancestry research. It’s a part of our private history, I hope you can understand and respect that.

Deidra looked down on the ground, of course she would have to say why, bah, myaree’s sister in law, Anita, had been very nice to her, to them these past few days, even accompanying her on various excursions to discover the planet and its inhabitants. 

Deidra liked her, she was direct, yet full of love, for her wife, her kids, and everyone willing to accept it really. The guardian liked the energy she gave off. She deserved to know the truth , lying to her was useless, even worse, it was mean, she was nothing but honest with her, with them since they had arrived on her world, she would understand her search.

-alright, I...I’m looking for my family.

-I, I thought , wait didn’t your friend Rosetta say guardians cannot...?

-WE can’t but I know I did, or she did anyway, my first life. I’ve searched Earth and the inner colonies for centuries and found nothing, so maybe some of my descendants escaped before the collapse…

-oh, OH, wow, sorry, I , I didn’t mean to push you to be uncomfortable. I am so sorry please I ask for your forgiveness.

-there’s nothing to forgive, i chose to reveal this story freely. 

-So you want to make comparative research based on your mitochondrial DNA? A thousand years is a large period of time but our computers should be able to extrapolate the drift.

-yeah if everything on the planet is as advanced as what i’ve seen so far i have no doubt !

She wasn’t even really kidding, the technological advances made by the besenohans were staggering, their understanding of physics, mathematics, medecine, most sciences had jumped ahead in galactic size strides. Deidra, rather well versed in sciences and the studies of the universe, was completely lost here. Without the dark ages caused by the collapse, by the death and despair of so many, the people here had had free reign to explore anything they wanted. And the result was technology fitted to the need of each citizen, innovation driven by will, not profit. On most things they were far beyond anything Earth had.   
But not everywhere. 

While weaponry design had gone completely extinct, the study of space travel had been largely left aside, the need had not been felt, the wish was not there anymore. 

Except for a young girl with black and red hair they had rescued from an asteroid field.

Contrary to most of the data the besenohan used and had stored over the years, the genetic archives were not accessible directly from personal terminals, several facilities , medical research centers mostly, like the one they were in.

-do you wish to be left alone ?

-not really, I think i’d rather have you here if it’s not too uncomfortable for you, can you stay with us? 

-I would be honored.

Deidra feverishly took the test rod, pressing her forearm skin against it. Almost immediately, her whole genome was showing on the screen before her. Damn this was fast!   
She could see the alterations her light was doing to her genes, constantly breaking and repairing her telomeres. The computer was flagging it as a genetic aberration.

-now how do I run a comparative analysis ? 

-here let me help!

-you seem familiar with this procedure, I thought you were a teacher ? 

-I am, but before that I worked as an osteoprothesist doctor for seven years.

-that’s impressive! ...I have no idea what that means…

-I grew bioengineered bones for people with amputated limbs, but it was taking too much of me, i was disappearing in my work , so I switched to a teaching position in a medical school, and then ultimately i chose to become a teacher for small kids, it’s much better for me, i feel better doing that! And I can make more time for my daughters now. Although I don't regret working the time I did in medicine.

-I envy your lives on Besehno so much, it all seems so… free! So fulfilling! 

-post scarcity doesn't mean post self doubts though! We still struggle to find our place among our people, but at least we can experiment safely. But yeah, we are not literally risen from the dead to accomplish a specific mission, I’m guessing that’s a lot of pressure for a first breath!

Deidra chuckled, her guide had turned an uncomfortable situation around really quickly, she knew the right words at the right time, no wonder she felt at home guiding and helping children grow! The guardian was glad she had stayed with her.

-the computer is done, let’s see what it has to say! Let us delve into the past!

-nothing, negative results.

-oh I’m sorry, i felt like this means a lot to you! I hope you won’t get discouraged!

-you forget i’ve been doing that for more than 170 years. This was a needle in a haystack kinda bet anyway, the exodus pink held 45 120 people, at the time of the collapse the human population was more than 13 billion in the solar system. That’s less than a .0003 chance on one hundred .

-indeed. You wanna go back to the house? 

-no no not yet, the girls and Numiri said they were taking the whole day to visit your capital city, and Rosetta is so deep in your archives we probably won’t see her for a while. Myaree mentioned something about nomads , people living on huge sailships like there were on earth a thousand years ago, I would love to meet some! They seem like fascinating people!

-I have to pick up the twins from school first, would you mind if they accompany us ?

-on the contrary! I’ll go by the Karnaca to get something a bit more adapted to the shore, see you there in huh ? How much time do you need?

Anita checked her wrist, numbers appeared out of light directly above her skin. 

-let’s say an hour, i’ll have time to pack some food for the kids too that way.

-thank you again for your guidance today, I really appreciate it anita! See you in an hour at the house then!

\----

-As you know it’s been a week since our arrival on your world,more specifically in your garden, and you’ve been incredibly welcoming, you showed us the beauty of it and of its people, we will never forget that!   
The archives you gifted us with are a gift of indescribable value, you have no idea how happy we are at the opportunity to discover more about your people and your history! We hope what little we had to offer in return was enough for you not to feel cheated out of that exchange!

Several people in the assembly laughed, Rosetta was kidding, but in a way she was serious, the exchange of technology and archives had been unequal from her point of view.they had traded the city's archive with them, and most of the schematics of the Karnaca , safe for the weapon systems.

-we’ve enjoyed our stay more than we ever dreamed we would, and we have you to thank for that! However it is time for us to go back to our mission. Contact is now established between us, and I hope the people of Earth will one day have the privilege to know you as we have!  
Our journey is far from over, our mission, is just starting, there is a whole universe to search and discover. Rest assured we will take great pleasure to explore it all!

-when do you wish to leave? 

-tomorrow morning, we’ll leave the atmosphere and jump to our next search area.

-that’s … sudden!

While the family was taking the news with reserve, Myaree seemed seriously impacted, saddened. She had spent almost all of the week hanging out with the crew of the Karnaca and had quickly grown on each of them. Apparently the opposite was also true, she had grown fond of the crew in record time. In a way she was closer to them than she was of her family.  
She had told them she had had difficulties making friends in the past, something none of them could have guessed considering the ease with which she had blended herself with them. They were gonna miss her. Deeply.

The celebrations went on far into the night, marked by memorable songs sung by deidra and accompanied by her crewmates with their instruments.

\--

-there is something i want you to have, a gift of sorts, here .

Saying so Anita handed a large object to Deidra, it was a wooden box , richly decorated. It looked old, the oak was heavily marked with the passage of time. Most of the inscriptions were indecipherable. 

Akai flocked to them, curious.

-what is it? 

Anita opened the two brass locket and opened the box, revealing a magnificent instrument resting on a mattress of velvet inside. 

Deidra felt tears coming to her eyes. Several days ago she had talked to Myaree's sister about her love of musical instruments , especially ancient ones. Yesterday during the feast she had performed with a balalaika she had received seven decades before from a group of refugees, she had dazzled them with her mastery of the instrument and now it was her turn to be dazzled by what was in front of her.  
She was speechless.

-it's an Oude, a fretless stringed instrument from Earth. This one was crafted by my great great grandfather, 200 years ago. He was a master luthier. Specialised in ancient crafts. Nobody in the family can play it . After what i saw yesterday i know you will make it chant like he used to . Oh wait I'm so sorry i didn't mean to make you cry!

-it's okay, I… wow , i can't find the words! This is a family heirloom, not even saying anything about its value as an art piece! I can't accept that ! It's way too precious!

-my grandma gave it to me, it is mine to give away, and i prefer knowing it's in the hand of someone who will appreciate the joy it can bring rather than gathering dust in a glass case.   
Regardless of all that i like the idea of a physical piece of our history travelling the stars with you girls!.

-thank you so much! I will take good care of it! Next time we see each other I'll play it for you all!.

Deidra carefully closed the case and Blacksmith transmated it directly to her quarters as to not damage the box by setting it on the ground. The captain hugged Anita with emotion. She felt bad that she had nothing of equal value to give her, to give them.

Myaree was still in the house with her mother, while all the others were in the garden for the last goodbyes. When she finally stepped out her eyes looked a bit red, like she had cried.

She approached the group rapidly. Akai waved enthusiastically at her to join her for a hug. The two had rapidly become friends and the separation was going to be hard.

-so this is it then!

-time to go yes! 

The small guardian and the besenohan girl were visibly trying to hide some pretty heavy discomfort. Akai had never been good at goodbyes. Most of her experience doing so was more focused on how to manage grief after the passing of a friend, due to the red war mostly. This was new. She was deliberately leaving her behind. But there was nothing she could do! Unless…

-listen - they both said at the same time.

-go first

-no you first!

They both chuckled, yet their hearts weren't in it.

Behind her MOM gave her daughter a gentle nudge and an encouraging smile. 

-I , I want to come with you.

-would you consider joining our crew? 

Once again they had spoken at the same time.

Around her the group laughed. The crew had had a chat about it last night before going to sleep, they all had agreed that Myaree would be a formidable asset for the crew, not only that but she seemed to understand their drive, what had brought them to embark in the first place .

Deidra was favorable too, in reserve of what her parents would say. She was a kid after all, considered an adult by the laws of the planet but still young and inexperienced. She was afraid she would get hurt , or worse. So far they could take a lot of risks carelessly because the crew was comprised one part of immortal beings and the rest people technically able to repair themselves and recuperate from incredible injuries.   
Bringing a human on board was something else entirely.

Rosetta , Akai and Numiri really had clicked with the young girl, they all had voiced strong arguments in favor of her joining, while the other thought they had no right to ask her to leave her family behind.

Now this changed the situation completely. SHE wanted to come! And from the look of absolute trust and comfort her parents and family had right now she had surely talked to them about it. 

Deidra , as the captain felt she had to be the one to answer .

-this is not a decision to be taken lightly. While to be honest we would be thrilled to have you join us, you need to accept the fact that our mission offers no guarantees. We do not know what we will find, I cannot in all honesty promise you that you will be safe. I want you to know that before you make this final decision. 

-i think i was meant to go with you. From the moment I first looked up at the stars I knew my place was there. I worked all my life to get there. And now I see that it was in order to get to you. I don't think it's a coincidence. I've never wanted something more in my entire life.

-i see. You all seem at peace with her decision, but i still want to ask you, the parents specifically what you think of it. 

-you have to understand Myaree will never be happy here. And I much prefer to know she left with competent , caring people rather than alone as she originally planned. We only want her to be happy . She actually told us she wanted to join your crew three days ago you know, since then she has had trouble mustering the courage to ask you!

-MAHMI!

-Hahaha! Then it is settled. Myaree, welcome to the Karnaca. I am honoured to approve the first Besenohan member of the crew! You will receive appropriate personal quarters and posting shortly, right now you can put your stuff in the hangar bay if you want. Oh that makes me think we still have the wreckage of your ship in engram storage, do you want to leave it here? 

-thank you captain Deidra, I hope I will not disappoint you! I will do my best to help in any capacity I can in our mission! 

Saying so she adopted a rather rigid stance , saluting her like the military commanders back on Earth 

Rosetta laughed and gave her an affectionate tap on the shoulder.

-the first thing you can do is relax, this isn't a military ship , and you can call her by her name, she doesn't care much for the title!

-but it sounds so cool to call someone captain!  
-can't argue with that! Responded Akai before anyone could answer.

Her bags had been packed a long time ago.

\---Vocabulary---  
Destiny specific terms:

THE TRAVELER: sort of planet shaped deity (smaller than Pluto), hovering silently over the last city on Earth. It uplifted Humanity with technologies in the early/mid 21st century. Supposedly it is ageless, traveling among the stars uplifting species.

-THE LAST CITY : technically “the last safe city on earth” a gigantic city built under the Traveller in the mountains of chile , located near the modern town of Uspallata. It is not however the only settlement. Only a third of humanity lives here

-THE COLLAPSE: "the end of the world" a general collapse of all infrastructure and countries in the 2320 due to an overwhelming alien invasion . Almost all intel on the actual events is lost.

-GUARDIAN : warriors resurrected from dead bodies by a ghost to wield the light (energy) as a weapon to defend Earth and humanity. They have no memories of their previous life, only their bodies.(the protagonists of the game)

-GHOST: little AI in the shape of a little star around a ball , no bigger than a grapefruit, they were created by the Traveller before it went into silence, they are tasked with finding "their" guardian and bringing them back to life.

-TITAN : subclass of Guardian, they usually are big and smart, their main asset is raw power and resilience. They wield specific powers that no other classes can use 

-HUNTER :subclass of Guardian , they usually are small and agile, their main asset is speed and marksmanship. They wield specific powers that no other classes can use (like double jump, they can take a second jump mid air to reach higher)

-WARLOCK: subclass of guardians: they usually are mysterious and focused on research. Their main asset is versatility and understanding of the Light . They wield specific powers that no other classes can use

-ENGRAM: new state of matter, where mass disappears into information only. One of the major discoveries of the golden age.

-Arc/Solar/Void : the three types of energy the Light turns into , the first one manifests itself as electricity, the second fire and the third as dimensional flux

-Blinking: short range teleportation through manipulation of void energy. Only accessible to the Warlock class.

-EXO: robotic body allegedly designed as a soldier , made to house a human mind.

-The vanguard : Elite guardians (three of them, one of each class) who coordinate the last city’s defenses, organize assaults on enemy strongholds and assassinations of their leaders, and mentor newly-risen Guardians. Some Guardians work directly for the Vanguard as scouts, investigating potential threats to the City far afield. At the beginning of the game there were three: Cayde-6 (now passed) Ikora and Zavala

-Kinderguardians: how freshly risen guardians are called by everyone else.

-Frame: a frame is a robotic body , not made to look like a human (although it is of humanoid structure -2 arms two legs, a head in the middle of shoulders) most frames do not have a personality programmed into them, some do.

-AMRITA project: a series of colony ships launched from earth during the golden over a period of 300 years they bear the name of colours preceded by the name EXODUS.(see episode 1)

\-------------SPACE VOCABULARY---------

Warp: simplistic word used to describe the effect of the space altering tech used to propulse the ship faster than the speed of light.

CIC: combat information center, on deck two of the ship, directly on top of the bridge, it has a conference room with a huge table , an observation window to the front of the ship and a physical display of the celestial position of the ship.

AU: astronomical unit, roughly 150 million kilometers (the average distance between the Earth and the Sun)

EM: Electro-Magnetic radiation , basically, radio. 

LY : light year, unit of distance corresponding to the distance reached at the constant speed of light in a vacuum in one year. ( close to 63 241 astronomical units)

-Enceladus: one of the biggest moons of Saturn, birthplace of Torres, Numiri and the ship itself.


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